Porcelain
by Your Existence
Summary: His matted, sun bright hair is hard to miss. His tanned skin dirty from sleeping on the ground. Clothes faded and holey. An imperfection, a nobody, in the hot summer heat of 1939 Poland. And despite all of this, he gets a perfect somebody to love him.
1. Him

**Title**: Porcelain

**Author**: Your Existence

**Fandom**: Naruto

**Date**: 8/4/08 (April 4, 2008)

**Chapter**: Prologue

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**Him**

I had not known anyone like him existed… at first.

His hair and eyes was as dark as night. His face free of childhood scars and stress. His skin smooth, soft, porcelain white. His shoulders broad and strong. His arms were strong also, but wrapped around me were gentle like a mother's touch. He wasn't buff, but slender. Everything about him was slender. His fingers especially. I loved his fingers the most. I loved how they curled up in anger and relaxed when sleeping. How they acted out what he was saying when he was talking and pointed lazily at things. How they ran through and tugged at my hair in intimacy as I pressed all the right spots. How they splayed across my back as he released.

He was always dressed in the finest clothes. He was very formal and had formal clothes to go with his formality. Pressed white, clean shirts. Black with white pin-stripes slacks and black shoes in which you could see your reflection perfectly. This he wore when he was going out casually. He had suits of every color. And socks to go with them. But he never wore them. Not once. He always wore a black suit with a metallic blue necktie when he had to go somewhere important. By the look of his face most of the time, though, I could tell he wanted to wear something more casual. More casual than his usual casual clothes.

He was perfect in all his ways. The way he walked. The way he talked. The way he slept. The way he awoke. The way he glared. The way he laughed.

He was truly perfect.


	2. Oranges

**Title**: Porcelain

**Author**: Your Existence

**Fandom**: Naruto

**Date**: 20-4-08 (April 20, 2008)

**Chapter**: One

**Warnings**: First shot at SasuNaru. Yaoi. Cursing. Pairings: SasuNaru (main) and others as they come…

**Author's Notes**: (The chapters will be coming out about every month until I get a good set pace. I'll try to get a chapter every two to three weeks when I set my pace. And the chapters will get longer as time goes on) This story has been bugging me since January 2007 and I'm just now writing it. I'd have dreams about this story and then this ghost thing would pop out of nowhere threatening me about it. Kinda scary. Well, the story is set in Nazi occupied Warsaw of nineteen thirty-nine, an awesome setting for an SasuNaru story if you ask me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :D.

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**Oranges**

"Stop! Thief! Thief!" A lady was chasing me as she threw items from her purse at me along with her screams of words and curses. Her black and white checked hat flew off her head, exposing her curly blond hair. I heard the clicking of her heels stop, then start in the opposite direction, getting fainter and fainter, until I could her them anymore. The wind must have her hat now. I kept running, the stolen bread safely in my arms, until I came to a familiar alley. My stomach growled as I ran down it. I put my hand over, as if it was a way of telling it, 'Hold on for a few seconds'. I went behind the trash cans in the back, plopped myself down, and feasted on my prize. I could tell the bread was just freshly baked because of how soft and warm it was. This was the best kind of bread. It was really buttery and it always made me feel warm inside, even on hot, summer days like today.

I got up from my spot and headed out the alley to wander the city, eating my warm bread. My matted hair shaded my eyes and kept my forehead cool on this hot summer day. The sun was high, so it must have been around noon when I heard the dog's bark. Everyone knew when you heard that particular bark, Kiba and Akamaru were coming. Those two were the most wild pair in all Poland. And the most loud. I heard that the neighboring countries could hear them and they would hide, for they thought it was a monster. But I knew this couldn't be true.

They were thieves, just like me, but they had something that I didn't and that was a sense of smell. Now, I had a sense of smell, but not like Kiba's. I also heard that he could smell bread baking from the border (which is really far from Warsaw)! But I knew that this couldn't be true either. But he could smell food from quite a distance.

But no matter how wild, how loud, those two were, you never saw them coming. The only way you could tell that Kiba and Akamaru had struck was when the window of the bakery of whatever store he stole from broken and dog piss on the floor. If the window of a store was broken, but no dog piss (and visa versa), then it wasn't them.

I was turning a corner when broken glass of a pastry shop went flying onto the sidewalk and street. A group of rich ladies that were in front of the shop screamed ran in all directions. I felt a rush of air go past me and fur brush past my leg. I turned to see the two, but there was nothing to see but people going up and down the sidewalk. That rush of air and brush of fur must have been Kiba and Akamaru.

"Damn it all! Look at this mess! And they broke my damn window!!" The pastry man cursed. "When I get my hands on that ragged boy and his damned mutt, I'll kill 'em. The pastry man came out his shop, shaking his flour gunked hands, "I'll kill 'em with my own two hands!" He shook his gunked hands in the faces of the people walking by. I veered to the other side of the street, not wanting his hands in my face. I laughed the whole way over.

And as I rose my bread up to my mouth to take a bite, I realize that there is no bread to bite into. I looked back across the street to see if I dropped it in all the excitement. It was nowhere to be found. I looked on the ground on my side of the street to see if I dropped it. No bread found. In the search of finding my bread, it clicked in my head. Kiba must of stole my bread when he raced pass me! That bastard! I looked back in the direction where Kiba and Akamaru ran in, already knowing I wasn't going to see them. I huffed at the loss of my bread for today. I usually stole one loaf of bread a day. Two if needed. I wasn't going to steal another, for it was getting unbearably hot to run. I walked quickly, but not so quick to where I would overheat, to the middle of the city. Behind a barber shop was the cellar I lived in. It wasn't the best home ever, but it was all I had and I was extremely proud of how I decorated it.

Everything in the cellar was some kind of shade of orange. The walls, the icebox in the left corner, the cover balled up on my mattress on the floor, the braided rug at the end of the stairs, the rail. Even the concrete floor was orange. I had found cans of paint of many colors in a old warehouse. All the colors were metallic and pretty, but the orange paint stood out the most to me. I took it back here to my cellar and painted everything orange. At the end of the day when I was done, I was orange myself! I walked around for days looking like a walking carrot until the paint started to irritate my skin. Even though I scrubbed myself several times, I still have an orange tint to me now.

My two prized possession were hanging up on the wall. They were painting. The painting hanging up over my bed was a still life painting of an orange all by its lonesome in a glass fruit bowl. I didn't know what still life was, but the painting was amazing. What was more amazing was that the word 'orange' had two different meanings! It was a color and a fruit! I always thought that every word had one meaning, but 'orange' was different. Unique.

The other painting hanging on the opposite wall was my favorite (even though the orange painting was orange). It had silhouettes of a family of three. The shortest of the three, obviously the child, was in the middle, being swung back and forth by the mother, on the right, and the father, on the left. (I would sometimes imagine myself as the child and what I would like my mother and father to look like.) They were on the beach during the sunset. Oranges, reds, yellows, and purples radiated from the setting sun and colored the sky. And though I couldn't see their faces, I could tell they were happy. I could never look at this painting for too long without tears blinding my view of it. Something in my chest and throat would always tangle itself up.

This was the need of the love and care from a real family.


	3. Shrimp

**Title**: Porcelain

**Author**: Your Existence

**Fandom**: Naruto

**Date**: 24/5/08 (May 24, 2008)

**Chapter**: Two

**Warnings**: First shot at SasuNaru. Yaoi. Cursing.

**Pairings**: SasuNaru (mainly) and others as they come…

**Author's Notes**: Ed (from FMA) has somehow found his way (personality wise) into our little blonde xD. The only thing is that our little blonde doesn't exaggerate like Ed does ;3. Our little blonde is, though, is a tad _seno hikui_ (_short_ in jap.). And why do I keep calling Naruto our _little blonde_? Well... isn't he our little blonde? :3

Oh, by the way, for those who don't know for some odd reason, this is written in Naruto's POV

Please Enjoy Chapter Two of _Porcelain_

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**P.S.** Sorry for the late update. My computer was being an ass and wouldn't start. It's working now though, so all's good again. :3

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**Shrimp**

One minute, I'm by the river minding my own business (searching for treasure). The next, I'm being dragged away by two taller boys. I punched and kicked and yelled and cursed, but their grip on my arms never let up. I was turned the opposite direction and the early sun was in my eyes, so I couldn't see who my kidnappers were. One of the boys kept saying over and over again, _How troublesome, how troublesome._

I was eventually thrown on to a pile of hay in a wide, empty horse stall. Black dots blotted my vision from the sudden change in lighting. Whispers were coming from every direction and silhouettes gathered around me. I tried to make out their features, but my eyes were still adjusting, and squinting was proving frustrating and useless. The scent of hay filled my nose as I took a deep, deep breath, calming my frustration, but I could tell that my face (if they could even see my face in this horrible lighting) displayed what I was feeling.

"Someone open a window. Just a bit. I want to see him better." a voice finally said. A rather chubby boy waddled his way towards the window and open it just a crack. He also opened two other windows and the room wasn't too bright or too dark.

"Ah, he really is a shrimp!" said a boy in the weirdest shade of green I've ever seen. I jumped up at him, just realizing what he said.

"What?! Who are you callin' a shrimp?! I hissed, pulling down on his shirt so I would met his eyes.

Suddenly, my face was hot with embarrassment at the action I did.

Still holding on to his shirt, I pushed the green boy back to standing, then pulled him down again, then pushed him back up and let go of his shirt. I looked at the boys that surrounded me, my face growing hotter as I looked at them all. Each one of them were taller than me. The only boy closest to my height was this brown-haired boy with large red upside-down triangles on both of his cheeks. He was like, a half an inch taller.

"Aww, he's blushing!" Laughter.

"It's okay, kid. We'll be especially careful not to step on you." More laughter.

"He's so short that--" the boy with the upside-down triangles was cut off by a dark-haired boy. He put one finger over the other boy's lips, hushing him.

"Did you only bring him here to only make fun of him or to have him help us with our problem?"

"Help you?!" I snapped. "Why would I help you guys? If you really wanted my help, you would have at least tried to make a good first impression. From what I see, you all are fucking jerks."

"Whoa, whoa! Little guy, big and bad words!"

"Kiba, that's enough. You're--"

"Kiba? _The Kiba_?" I looked up at him. "Kiba with the little dog Akamaru?" Akamaru, who was sleeping in a pile of hay in the corner woke up at the sound of his name and wobbled his way over to Kiba. He flopped himself a little ways from Kiba's feet and drifted back to sleep.

"Yeah! That's me!" I could feel his pride radiating from him. "I see I got a fan! Unlike you losers. Haha!" Though, he wasn't laughing much when his _fan's_ fist met his mouth.

"You stole my only bread for the day the other day, bastard!" Akamaru jumped up at the sound of Kiba landing harshly on the floor. He looked up at me, my fist still balled up, then to Kiba, who was in a daze. He put two and two together and started to growl at me.

Oh. Shit.

-

All the boys and I were in a circle in the middle of the stall I was dumped in earlier, munching on sausages. My face hurt like a bitch from Akamaru. Scratches and bite marks littered my face, arms, and legs. I made a mental note to myself to stay as far away from Akamaru as possible.

I took a bite of my sausage, "Did you bring me here just to get torn to pieces by a rabid dog?" This earned me a growl and a glare from not only Akamaru, but Kiba also. I silently gulped. "I-I mean, I think lowly of you all already. You shouldn't want to make it worse."

"You're right." the boy with wearing the sunglasses said. "We wouldn't want to make it worse. So, without wasting anymore time," he stood up and walked out of the stall and went to one at the way end. He motioned us to follow him. When we met up with him, all the other boys sighed at the sight. Two loaves of bread and a five thick, yard-long sausage sticks was all that was in there.

"Okay, so you hardly have any food. What does that have to do with you guys kidnapping me?" I asked, getting to the point where I just want them to leave me alone.

"It's not only that. There's rumors going around that there's going to be a war. And war means food shortages. Plus it's good to have extra food during Winter-time." the boy in green explained.

"What's _winter_?" I had heard of war and food shortages before, but never winter.

"Are you serious? You've never heard of _winter_?" Kiba looked shocked and so did everyone else expect for the boy in sunglasses, I think. I couldn't tell if he was shocked or not, for the lower part of his face was covered by the coat he wore and his eyes were hidden, of course.

"Winter is one of the four seasons." the boy in green said with a big smile on his face.

"There's four of them?" I was amazed.

"Yes! At the very beginning of the year, It's still Winter. Then when the snow melts. When the flowers start to bloom in all it's youthful glory and it gets warm, you know it's Spring! (I could tell this was his favorite season.) Then, going towards the middle of the year, it gets hotter and you know it's Summer, like it is right now. Then it starts to get a bit cold again and the leaves on the trees start to turn into beautiful oranges and reds and yellows and you know then that it's Autumn. It gets super cold and snow starts to fall and it's Winter all over again at the end of the year!"

"Ahh, the four seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn." I mumbled to myself, kind of confused. I really had no use of seasons and days and years and all that other nonsense. I knew when it got cold, I needed to get thicker clothes, shoes, and eat warm food and when it got hot, get thinner clothes, lose the shoes, and eat cooler foods. That's all I really needed to know.

"So, you want me to help to you guys gather food for a war that might not even happen and for Winter? Can't you do that yourselves?" I concluded.

"It's more because of the rumors of the war. Better safe than sorry." the boy in sunglasses said. "You're tiny and fast and that's what we need." He walked over to me and held out his hand. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've introduced ourselves to you properly." I put my hand in his hand and he shook it once.

"Shino."

"Naruto."

Everyone came around to me expect for Kiba and Akamaru. I already knew their names and if they were listening to all the times I said my name, they should know mine.

The boy in green was Rock Lee. He has really bushy eyebrows and that's kind of scary. The red-haired boy was Gaara. He had weird black rings around his eyes like he ever got any sleep. He hadn't spoke not one time, excluding the time when he said his name. He scares me more than Rock Lee's brows. The chubby one was Chouji. It's obvious that he likes to eat. A lot. He was eating the whole entire time. The boy that came with Kiba to get me from the river was Shikamaru. He was pretty lazy from what I can see. There were a few other boys, but they seemed to just… be there. They didn't benefit the group nor do they harm the group. _They're just a waste of skin and bone,_ Shikamaru had said when I asked about them. _We all are._

* * *

Shino told me to come back tomorrow. He said he had something for me. I wanted him to give it to me then, but he said no. As I was walking away, I could hear the other boys laughing. I wanted to go back to see what they were laughing about, but decided against it. I'd had enough of them for one day, even though I just met them.

Ain't that a crying shame?


	4. Artillery

**Title**: Porcelain

**Author**: Your Existence

**Fandom**: Naruto

**Date**: 25/6/08 (June 25, 2008)

**Chapter**: Three

**Warnings**: First shot at SasuNaru. Cursing.

**Pairings**: SasuNaru (mainly) and others as the come…

**Author's Note**: Short? Yes. Moving the story along? Of course! Longer chapter next time? Longer than this, so yes. Sasuke…?! D: He's coming… .

**Disclaimer**: I had forgot about this 'til now… eeto…. Let's see… I don't own Naruto. The end.

**

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****Artillery**

The first thing I wake up to is the darkness of my room, which is normal. It's the first thing I wake up to every morning. But the darkness I woke up to this morning was different. At first, it was a quiet, distant wail. Then, as it got louder, I realized that it was sirens wailing through the city. Then, a strange, echoic, boom-booming noise joined in on the horrid symphony of the sirens. But soon, the sirens got mad at the boom-booming and started to wail louder. They were fighting for dominance now. I tried to block out the noise with my pillow and my hands. It didn't work. I wrapped my cover around my head, leaving my mouth out so I could breath. It worked for a few seconds, then the dreaded sounds started to seep in. When the sirens got loud, the boom-booming would get even louder, then the sirens would scream louder, and it came to a point where I couldn't even tell the two apart. It became a constant buzz in my ears that slowly got louder and louder and it was driving me insane.

I dug my fingers in my ears (which really didn't make a difference) and made my way to the hatch leading to the outside world. By time I made it outside, bruises were developing on my face and arms. The sky was a heavy grey and black dots were raining from the sky.

_'Black rain drops?'_ I sniffed the air. _'It doesn't smell like rain. More like… ash.'_ Then it occurred to me that the boys might be in trouble or even hurt! I dashed out from the alley and ran towards the river.

As I ran, I noticed that there weren't any people on the sidewalks nor in the shops. The Bread Ladies weren't even at the Bread Box. I wasn't bouncing off people like I usually do. I slowed down, and looked around. Not a single soul was about. The black dots continued to fall, the sirens continued to scream, the boom-booming continued to boom. And I couldn't even begin to grasp the situation. I didn't know what was going on.

I was so puerile.

My shoulders felt heavy and my chest felt like it was going to explode. This was so abnormal. People were supposed to be about. Rich ladies were supposed to be carrying bread in their gloved arms and hands. Rich men were supposed to be sitting at the little out door cafés laughing with their deep laughs. Children were supposed to be running and playing. Cars were to clutter the streets and honk and buzz. This wasn't right.

I didn't realize that I was walking aimlessly until I had ran into a brick corner of a store. I had already had bruises decorating my face from stumbling on the stairs in the dark, and now a gash ran down the middle of my face. Tears blurred my vision as I slid down the wall. The wall could take the little weight I had on it and crumbled, which wasn't normal. Walls were supposed to be strong and sturdy. I turned to see the wall. There was no wall. There was no store. I looked around. Stores and buildings were nothing but piles of brick and ash. They had been bombed out.

Then it hit me.

The black dots from earlier weren't rain, but bombs. Shino and Shikamaru had said something about them a few days ago (it had been about a week and some-eye-days since I met them), but I really wasn't listening. I think I was eating beef stew… Gah!

I started to panic. I looked up at the sky. Heavy grey still hung in the sky, but no bombs. I sighed in relief, only to panic again. I had forgot about going to see the boys! But with everything bombed, I couldn't tell what part of the city I was in. As Shikamaru would say, how troublesome…


	5. Nyan Nyan

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 29/7/08 (July 29, 2008)

**Chapter:** Four

Pairings: SasuNaru (mainly) and others as the come… (you should already know one or two of them so far…)

**Author's Note:** I thought school wouldn't get in my way this much in the beginning of the year, but boy was I wrong. From August 18th, the second week of school, to now, I have had three time-consuming major projects and two essays due, then I have a three to four page essay in a twelve font typesetting due next Wednesday. This is ridiculous. I'm really, really, really sorry for the horrendous wait. I also have September's chapter done, just got to run through it again to make sure it's at its best. Thanks so much for being patient

**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'em.

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**Nyan Nyan**

My legs felt like jelly and I stumbled with every step. I've been walking for what felt like days. Everything seemed repetitious. On every corner, every street, was the same thing: crumbled brick and ash. The sirens and the boom-booming had stopped their noisy war and the sky was little lighter, but not by much. Street lights weren't on yet, so it still had to be a little early, despite how dark it was.

My legs finally went completely numb and gave out in front of clothing store that hadn't been bombed, which was kind of surprising. Mannequins molded in the shape of little girls seemed to be staring at me through the glass windows. Their clean, frilly, silk dresses mocking my dirty, faded, cotton clothes. My clothes couldn't really be called clothes, being in the state they were in. More like rags. Strips of cloth, really.

The cool concrete feel so good against my burning skin. The mannequins flew out my mind as I tried to become one with the ground. Melt into it. I gave up trying to find my way back home, no point to it now. My legs were throbbing and won't move. Stomach empty. Head felt like it was going to explode.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Something was coming towards me. Hesitant. I could hear it breathing fast, almost gasping every breath. Or maybe that was me trying to catch my breath. My chest _was_ heaving against the concrete. Maybe I was just going out of my mind.

Click.

Click.

The nearing clicking sound was very familiar, but I couldn't think of where I've heard it. Too tired, I guess, to think. Maybe I was dreaming. The thing mumbled something in a language I couldn't understand. It was talking to something else. Two of them were there watching me. My heart sped up suddenly at the random thought that they might try to kill me. For what reason, though, I could not think of. When I tried to turn over and see who my supposed killer was, I was taken under by sudden heavy sleep by time I was on my back.

* * *

The strong smell of pomegranate and light hints of cigarette smoke here and there filled my nose and lungs as I took my first breath of consciousness. My eye lids felt to heavy to lift, so I let them be and took in my surroundings by sniffing the air and slowly moving my hands to touch the things around me. Something thick and heavy was laying on top of me. Very warm, too. A comforter. I sighed in contentment as I buried further under it. Sleep threatened to take me again and I welcomed it. I was about to happily plunge back into unconsciousness when horribly cold fingers lay rest on my forehead. My eyes shot open and a yelp escaped my mouth as I rolled off the bed. I landed with a hard thud on the wooden floor on my face. Sharp pains ran up and down the middle of my face and spine, making me cry out.

"Oh!" a female voice gasped. She must have been the one who put her horrid fingers on me. She shouted something in that language I didn't understand and someone came running into the room. She whispered something to the other and he left again. She came over to me and hauled me up onto my feet, her cold hands burning my hot skin. She turned me so I was facing her. Didn't I feel heavy to her? I felt heavy to me…

The other guy came back with a huge silver tray with a silver dome and a small white box with a red cross on it. I'd never seen something like that before, the box. She tilted her head towards the nightstand on the other side of the bed, motioning him to set it there and, I suppose, thanked him in that language again. She turned back to me, eyeing my face warily. She tried to touch my cheek, but I backed away. I carefully studied her hands and I couldn't believe how pale she was. I looked darker than I really was compared to her. She saw me comparing our shades and she laughed a light, amused laugh. I liked it a lot. It made me smile.

But my smile turned into a frown of confusion when she said something in her language.

"Deutsch?" she tapped a finger on my lips, then hers. "Deutsch? Nein?" she said when she saw the confusion on my face. A thoughtful expression crossed her face as went over to the other side of the bed. She got the mysterious white box and came back over. She eyed my face again and opened the box. I jumped, not knowing if something was going to jump out of it. I felt silly when nothing came out and she laughed her light laugh again. She pulled out a long white strip, a small white and brown tube, and a rubber glove. She slipped the glove on and squeezed the creamy contents of the tube on to her index finger. She whispered something, then started to dab the stuff on the gash. I wanted to cry out and pull away, but she held me in place with her other arm and shushed me as if to calm me. My eyes screwed shut.

"Nyan, nyan?" she called. I slowly opened my eyes, my body shaking from having them closed so tight. Her deep, black eyes stared into my cerulean. I could see a smile in her eyes. A gentle, caring smile.

I started to smile back, but a deep growl, even more of a rumble maybe, erupted from my middle. A apologetic smile crept onto my face, my hand automatically slipping behind my head, fingers barely getting through my unkempt hair. I wanted to say 'Sorry', but I didn't know how to say it to where she would understand. She suddenly got up from her spot and went for the tray. I'd forgotten about it. I wonder what was in…

Food.

Some kind of food was in there. I don't know why I didn't smell it before, but now the scent filled my nostrils and lungs with each breath I took. Another rumble escaped. Saliva started to water my mouth as the tray came closer and closer to me. I didn't realize how hungry I was. When was the last time I had eaten anyway?

The lady set the tray gently on the bed and took of the dome. I had inhaled the very moment she took off the dome and I nearly drowned in the scent of the food. I made my way to the tray.

All sorts of foods were on there, separated into little regions of their own. I remember in the left upper most region, there was all sorts of meats like chicken and pork and beef. All sorts of colorful vegetables and some fruits were in the lower right. Rich cheeses and cold cuts were stuffed onto colored toothpicks in the upper right region. Buttered rolls and little jars of honey occupied the lower left region. Dips and sauces were in the middle. I picked up a piece of meat, not knowing what kind of meat it was, and not really caring either. I just knew it looked appetizing. I swallowed the lake of saliva in my mouth before opening it to bite off a huge chunk out of it.

"Oh, god…" I whispered. The meat just melted perfectly in my mouth. It was seasoned just right, cooked just right. I dizzy just from the flavor of it (a good thing). A shock of cold raced through me. I jerked up and backed away from it. When my eyes finally focused, I saw the lady's hands outstretched like she was going to catch something. I must have fell. How silly of me! Falling out over food.

She just smiled and motioned her hand toward the tray when I finished off my piece.

* * *

Lord know I was full.

Most of the items on the tray were gone (some of the cheeses were horribly nauseating). I felt a little embarrassed at first from eating all that food, but after I felt the sleep settling in, I didn't really care. The lady cleaned me up and draped the heavy comforter over me. A servant came and took the tray and white box away. My lids felt heavy like earlier and I slowly let them slip shut.

But the one thing I saw before heading off into the comfortable darkness of unconsciousness was a pure, pure white person. More white than the lady, and that was really saying something.

Midnight long, spiky, black hair framed his face, contrasting with his skin perfectly. His skin was smooth and no scars or signs of stress marked his face. It was perfectly clear. His skin reminded me of some kind of material, but I couldn't think of what it was. So white and strong yet fragile. I guess I was too sleepy to think of anything besides his face and skin and hair. That picture stuck with me as unconsciousness washed over me.

When I awoke, the room was dark except for the light pouring in from the open door to the hallway. It must be night. I jumped down from the tall bed as quiet as I could and crept out of the room. The temperature drastically change as soon as a walked out. I almost yelped at the bitter cold of the hall.

_'Good lord! No wonder Chlodna Pani was so damn cold!'_ I thought, rubbing my hands against my arms. I peeked into open doors when I can, finding nothing of interest. I happened to peek into the elaborate bathroom and went to go use it, though it took me a while to find out how to flush the damned thing when I was done. I was washing my hands when I heard a voice call out 'Nyan Nyan'. Chlodna Pani was calling me, wondering where I was. I rushed out of the bathroom, sloppily drying my hands, and started towards the room when the cold suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I stumbled and fell.

"Chlodna Pani _knows_ she has it too damn cold in here." I said to myself, shivering violently on the wooden floor. I looked up in time to see her racing across the hall in search for me.

"Nyan Nyan!" Chlodna Pani sighed when she spotted me. "Nie den Raum verlassen, ohne dass es mich wissen, erste, in Ordnung? Nicht erschrecken mich, dass…" She dragged me up from the floor.

"No! No! You're cold! You're cold!" I squirmed and shivered in her hands. She quickly let me go and stepped back. I stepped back also, huddling into myself. I shivered again.

"Ahh! Meine Hand sind kalt! Ha-ha!" She rubbed her hands together, as if to warm them up.

I nodded. "Yes! You're hands," I pointed to my hands. "are cold! Horribly cold!" I shivered to show 'cold'.

"Zimne?" she imitated a shivered. She said _cold_ in my language, which I found out later was Polish. I nodded. She smiled a big smile. "Zimne. Ich bin _zimne_." She looked like she would just explode from excitement from learning a new word. A word in a different language. "Ulrich! Kommen Sie hier! Ha-ha!" Light footsteps sounded from the floor above us. Soon enough, _Ulrich_, or _Sasuke_, as he will be called from now on, came up behind Chlodna Pani. I gasped. He was the same person I saw earlier before dozing off. He was the very beautiful-material-I-could-not-think-of boy that danced with me in my dreams.

"Sasuke, Sie studieren Polnisch, richtig? Ich glaube schon, dass Nyan Nyan spricht Polnisch." She smiled and gestured towards me.

"Nyan… Nyan? Mutter…" Sasuke sighed.

"Was? Sie glaube nicht, dass es niedlich?" She frowned.

"Es ist nicht so, dass ... Wie auch immer, Sie wollen mir das Wort zu ihm?" He eyed me for a second before turning back to Chlodna Pani.

"Ja!"

"Polnisch, richtig?"

She nodded. Sasuke shortened the small distance between us in one long stride. I felt so short even though I was a little past his shoulder.

All he spoke was 'Hello. How are--' before I fainted.

* * *

_Chlodna Pani_ is _Cold Lady_ in Polish. xD

_Ulrich_ is a German name and means _Prosperity_ and _Power_.

She is still calling him _Ulrich_, but I'm writing _Sasuke_ so you won't be confused.

**Note:** I think the German is pretty self-explanatory by context, but for those who really need it, I will be putting it here soon. Thanks so much for being patient! Oh, and to those who speak German, please tell me if there are any mistakes! My German isn't the best... :'D


	6. Dobe

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 27/8/08 (August 27, 2008)

**Chapter:** Five

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (mainly) and others as the come… (you should already know one or two of them so far…)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em.

**Author's Note:** I hate Sasuke with a burning, flaming passion. But I could (hopefully) describe him like he's my best friend and like I've known him for years. You know, I think the most important thing about being a fanfic author is the ability to take a character you hate with all you being and make that character into a person you and everyone will love and remember, while also keeping the character in character. Even with characters you do like. If you can do this, you'll probably be among the greatest fanfic authors out there. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully!

Please enjoy chapter five of _Porcelain_

* * *

**Dobe**

I believe it was dream, though, I doubt I could dream up a voice that beautiful. It wasn't high and squeaky or low and horribly deep. His words weren't run together or chopped, but nicely separated and they flowed out his mouth like a serene, cool river. The voice talked to me through the whole dream. It asked questions like _How old are you?_ and _Where'd you come from?_ It also asked me how I was doing and what my favorite foods were. I had answered _I'm great_ and _(laugh) Everything!_ The voice had laughed too. The voice's laugh was like a bright, soft velvet.

There was a comfortable silence. Few birds chirped and sang to each other their morning songs. A calm wind blew through nearby trees, adding to the music.

We were sitting at a small table next to a large window looking out to the back yard full of colorful vegetables and fruit trees. The room was lit up by the bright sun, making the red walls glow. Gold curtains framed the window and gold rimmed the room. That's glowed as well. I looked at the sky. It was a bright baby blue, unlike the gloomy grey it was a few days ago.

"Are you ready to eat?" The voice said nonchalantly.

"Yes! I think my stomach wanted to join in on the conversation earlier." As if on cue, my stomach growled. I patted it.

"Well, you have to get out of bed. You're not having meal in bed again."

I was confused. "What do you mean? I'm not in bed. We're sitting by the big window at a small table… aren't we?"

"Um, no. You must be dreaming. Open your eyes, dobe."

I ran my fingers lightly across my face. My eyes _were_ closed! Damn…

I slowly blinked my eyes opened. I was in the same room and bed I had been sleeping in before. It was moderately lit, so my eyes adjusted quickly.

"Finally." the voice said lazily. I looked toward its source. Next to the bed, dark orbs framed with thick, black lashes dully stared at me. Long, pale fingers lay splayed across his face, two of them threaded in his midnight hair, the other two framing his eye (his pinky was in the nook of his eye).

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "I… I could have sworn it wasn't a dream. We were sitting a small table by a big window and we were talking and laughing. The room was bright and comfortable. The birds were singing and chirping. The wind was blowing, making the trees sway. And the sky… The sky! It was such a pretty, pretty blue!"

"Yeah, we were talking alright. You especially."

"What do you mean?" I had a bad feeling bubbling up in my stomach.

"You were talking to me in your sleep." A mocking smirk had formed on his face. My mouth opened to say something, but it just closed again. I talk in my sleep…?

My stomach growled extra loud. Maybe that was the bad feeling I was really feeling. "Oh… Heheheh… Sorry…" I smiled a nervous smile.

"Hn." He stood up in one fluid motion and stretched. His fingers cracked as he curled them into his palm one by one. After tying on his shoes, he motioned my to come. I flipped off the covers just to flip them back over me.

"No! It's too cold. Why do you have it so damn cold?!"

"Tch. Get out the bed, dobe. It's not cold in here." He sounded annoyed.

"I'm not getting out the… _Dobe_?" I swiveled around to face him. "I'm not a _dobe_!"

"Yes, you are. You also look like one." He had walked over to the door. "Come on, _dobe_. The food down stairs is getting cold." And he walked out the room. I was fuming as I carefully made my way out the bed, the covers wrapped around me. I found an enormous closet on the opposite wall of the bed full of all sorts of clothes.

"That teme…"

I was soon down stairs dressed in a nice fitting dark blue long sleeved sweater and black slacks that were a bit long for me. I rolled them up a few times. Chlodna Pani had washed my hair super good, so it wasn't matted anymore and it shined brightly in the sunlight from the window by the dining table. She would call me _Wenig Sonne_, which means _Little Sun_ (Sasuke gave me the translation), every now and again. Nyan Nyan was still the main name she called me though.

"Nyan Nyan! Guten Morgen! Sind Sie bereit für das Frühstück?" Chlodna Pani chirped.

"Huh?"

"Breakfast."

"Oh… Yes! Breakfast!"

Men and Women dress in black and white came through a swinging door and placed huge platters in front of the other four people, excluding Chlodna Pani, Sasuke, and I, around the table. I really didn't notice them. I wonder if they noticed me. There was mumbling and eyes darting at me time to time, so I'll assume they noticed me.

* * *

After breakfast (and after Chlodna Pani tended to the wounds on my face), I told Chlodna Pani about my dream, with the help of Sasuke. Sasuke also told her how I talked in my sleep, which I really didn't appreciate. She just laughed and smiled. Sasuke didn't. Well, the closest he got to a smile was smirk, and he was only smirking when he was making fun of me or saying some snide remark about me. I think he found me annoying or stupid. I didn't know why though. I bet he thought I was extra stupid when Chlodna Pani asked me how old I was and I couldn't answer her.

She had made us stand up next to each other. She giggled at our height difference. _Kurz_ she had said to me.

After eyeing us and measuring us, and raising our arms to look up under them, she finally concluded that, Sasuke being fifteen, that I was fourteen going on fifteen. I didn't know much about numbers and ages really, so I didn't really understand what she was talking about.

The next day, Chlodna Pani told Sasuke to take me home. When I had made a protest against it, she just shook her head and had a mildly sad look on her face. I guess she thought that I had parents and that they must be worried about me. I didn't tell her that there was no one waiting for me at home in the obnoxious orange cellar. I didn't want her to be sad over me for not having parents.

She packed all the clothes I could fit into one big suitcase. She also packed in the suitcase shampoo, body soap, a wash cloth and sponge, a comb and brush set, cologne, and a few bags of dried, salted meat. Jerky, I think.

As we walked out the front door, I noticed the sky was a light grey, not the great blue I was hoping it would be.

"Nyan Nyan! Kommen Sie und besuchen, ja? Nun, Abschied!" She called after us as we walked down the long walkway up to the black iron gate that circled around the large house. I turned to see her waving a smiling. I waved and smiled back. I waited a moment for Sasuke to translate for me, but he didn't say a word.

After ten or fifteen minutes of walking, we got to the part of town that Chlodna Pani had found me in. The buildings were still crumbled and dust. I don't know why I thought it would be all built up again.

"What did your mother say when we were leaving? All I understood was the _Nyan Nyan_ part."

"She wants you to visit again."

"Really?" I felt my face heat up a bit. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything and Sasuke didn't either.

I couldn't really say that the silence between Sasuke and I was comfortable (well, for me anyway), but it wasn't terrible either. It was like some one rubbing on a bone underneath the skin with a dull fingernail. It felt irritatingly funny, but it also felt rather good at the same time.

Well, a loud, rhythmic _thud-thud-thud_ interrupted our rubbing-on-a-bone-funny-but-good-feeling silence. Strong vibrations traveled through the ground, making us stumble a bit in our mid-step. I felt frightful eyes on me suddenly. People (middle and poor looking people), crept out of their hiding places. They all stared at us. I wanted to run to my cellar where there were no such eyes looking at me. I was used to people being around, but not them being around looking at me. It made me feel uneasy for them to be looking at me all at once.

"Look!" a small brunet boy cried.

Large sickly green colored moving box-like things a long snout thing protruding out from it turned down the road going the direction Sasuke and I were going. They were going down two-by-two.

"What… What are they?" I asked Sasuke, pulling on his jacket sleeve once.

"Tanks."

Tanks?

"I thought tanks were a container in a car for gas…"

"That's a gas tank you're talking about, you dumbass." Sasuke sighed. "Come on." He started off, not even looking behind to see if I'm following. How rude. I had to jog a ways to catch up to him (he's taking long strides).

The rhythmic _thud-thud-thud_ that had been drowned out be the tanks were now louder than before. The crumbs of brick and the little pebbles on the side of the road jumped up and down in beat of the _thud-thud-thud_. It got louder with each _thud_. _Thud. Thud. Thud. THUD!_

That's when I saw them.

* * *

**Chapter Six will be out at the in of the month (Oct. 2008)**


	7. Jew or Jackboot

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 29/9/08 (September 29, 2008)

**Chapter:** Six

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main) and others as them come…

**Author's Note:** I'm finally back on track. Submitting three chapters a month is not going to be a regular thing. I'm going back to submitting a chapter a month, so I hope you enjoyed it xD.

I also want to dedicate this chapter to all the people who read _Porcelain_, who have me on their author alerts, who have this story on their story alerts and favourites, and for everyone who leaves reviews for _Porcelain_, especially _Misuzu Kamio_ for leaving such awesome reviews that always make me smile and want to write more (Don't worry, guys. All of your reviews make me happy, too~). Thanks so much :3~!

Please enjoy chapter six of _Porcelain_~

* * *

**Jew or Jackboot**

"Ah, it was magnificent! You should have seen them."

"We did see them."

"Ah! You did? Weren't they great?"

No one answered. Not even Rock Lee, who usually agreed with me and backed me up. I frowned.

"No…?"

"No."

I couldn't tell if the other boys were against them, but by the look on Kiba's face and the tone Shino had, I could tell that they weren't happy about the arrival of the Jackboots.

"Why not?"

"They are no good. They've come to kill us all."

"They can't be here to kill us. Not even to hurt us. One of them mussed my hair and gave me a chocolate." I dug in my pockets and pulled out the wrapper. "See?" I waved the golden wrapper back and forth in the air. Shino frowned dejectedly. Kiba fumed.

"You wanna be part of them?!" he yelled. Be a part of them? I didn't understand.

"What do you mean? I don't see what's wrong with them. They were friendly and kind to me. Were they not kind to you? They were mean?"

"We didn't go up to them like you did." he spat.

"Then how do you know if they are good or not? From what I see, you saw them from a distance and don't know a thing!" I was furious. How could they talk about them like that when they didn't know anything about them?

"Why are you defending them?!"

"Because you all are talking about them like they are real bad people and they are not!"

"Well, if they are _such good people_, why don't you go and be with them. Ask them if you can join them and see if they don't shoot you!" As Kiba was saying, well, screaming this in my face, he was backing me up against the only door leading outside. He opened the door, which unfortunately swung out instead of in like most doors, when I was fully pressed against it. I fell into the taut autumn grass. "They don't take in _Jews_, shitwad! They kill them!" The door slammed, almost slamming my foot in with it. I could hear Kiba growling words under his breath and Shino scolding him about what he done. The others were silent, or at least I thought so.

Jew? The fuck…

"I'm not a Jew!" I screamed. My breath started to hitch and tears blinded my view as I got myself up to my feet and started towards the cellar. I was turning the corner a block away when Shino called out for me. I didn't stop nor turn around. He knew where the cellar was and how to get in if he really wanted or needed to talk to me.

As I walked on, I began to wonder what a Jew _was_. I heard the boys--mostly Kiba--talk about them, but I never really understood what they were. The first time his mentioned them, he say they were dead rats. Then he said if they were on a scale, they would be lower than cockroaches. Then he said they were one of the most deadly, most dangerous viruses on earth. Well, whatever they were, I wasn't one of them.

-

As soon as got to the cellar, I lit my four big orange crème scented candles that were in each corner of the room, which lit the room dimly, and nuzzled myself comfortably under the thick covers. I was soon breathing easy, forgetting my discomfort, slowly inhaling and exhaling orange crème.

-

_Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud._

Magnificent, shiny boots marched behind the sickly, dull colored tanks. A complete contrast.

All the boots moved together like they were all attached to one another. Like one giant foot. Not one boot was behind a beat or ahead a beat. They kept rhythm perfectly. The sun happened to peek out for a quick instant and shone a little light on the army boots. Oh! How they shined!

"Who are they?" I asked Sasuke in astonishment.

He scoffed. "One of the worst group of people you'll ever meet."

I sighed. "That's not answering my question."

He sighed too and didn't answer me for a long while. The boots kept marching, their thuds filling in the awkward silence for me, their hypnotizing shine holding my attention so I wouldn't focus so much on the uneasiness and discomfort faintly radiating off Sasuke.

Then, adding his silky voice to the unique music of the boots and tanks (and the sirens that were faintly crying out in the distance), he said,

"We'll call them _Jackboots_ for now."

"Jackboots…" I whispered to myself. Those wonderful, shining boots, and, I guess, the tedious men wearing them were called _Jackboots_.

I didn't mean to take a step forward, or step at all really, but I found myself walking towards the enthralling gleam of the boots. Then I found myself falling. The dark grey pavement of the street came racing towards my face, my body and I shut my eyes and put my arms in front of me to help break the fall. I expected to collide with street, but I don't collide with anything. Strong hands were holding me up from the undersides of my arms.

"Huh?"

I was hoisted up high in the air. As he turned me bit before putting me down, I caught a glimpse of the hands that held me up. It wasn't the super snow white hands I thought they were. The hands that I saw were lightly tanned and calloused.

"Ah! Watch your step, little one." A moderately deep voice advised. I looked up to the source of the voice. A soldier was smiling down to me, his long thin blond mustache smiling, too. His grey uniform was decorated with different colored bands and pockets and gold and silver squares and eagle shaped things that I know Kiba would love to get his hands on.

"Ah… Um… Thank you…" I said quietly, rubbing the back of my head nervously.

"A timid, fragile-looking thing, are you?"

I looked fragile?

I blushed and the soldier laughed a short, quick laugh. He dove his hand into his pant pocket and fished out a small, round something wrapped in a golden wrapper.

"For you, little one." he gently place the golden wrapped object in my hand. It was a chocolate, semi-melted. He mussed my hair, then patted it twice and got back in line, going in right on beat. I thought he would stumble on a beat, but he didn't. I watch him go down the street until I couldn't see him anymore. Then Sasuke pulled me along, muttering things in German.

He seemed bothered.

-

I had slept for two straight days.

How did I know? Because, the lady who usually sat on the corner across the street from my cellar wasn't there like she was supposed to be (she was there yesterday). She'll sit on that corner all day on the days she was there (which was every other day), not saying a word to anyone. Even if they say _Hello_ or_ Excuse me, Miss_, she wouldn't say a thing.

I went to the river to wash up a bit and took a muffin from a bakery for breakfast. I went slower than usual, which really bothered me. I hated being slow. Moving slow, rather. It made me feel vulnerable and I won't be able to get away if I'm caught snatching things off shelves or out of ladies arms if I'm moving slow.

But as I was making my slow journey from the river to the bakery, I noticed something that seemed out of place. There were extra people (something I wouldn't have noticed going my normal pace, probably), which made me a bit more comfortable. I liked a lot of people around, but these people were foreign, something I wasn't used too. And they wore different clothes than the usual people here wore. These foreign people were male and wore grey uniforms.

The Jackboots…

They were walking around like the belonged here Like they have been here all there lives. Rich ladies in patterned dresses clung to their arms, giggling here and there. They, too, looked foreign.

After my muffin, I reluctantly made my way over to the boys' place.

"Naruto! Finally you're up!" was how Rock Lee greeted me when I peeked my head in through the door.

"How'd you know I was asleep?"

"We all went over to your place yesterday. You wouldn't wake up no matter how much noise we made or what we did to you."

I blushed lightly, "That's not cool, coming into my cellar like that…"

Shino came up to me then and gave me a small roll of sausage and a toy figurine. "I sincerely apologize for Kiba's behavior the day before." My brows furrowed. I didn't want to see nor talk to Kiba today. I wasn't ready for that yet.

"Don't worry. He isn't here."

Thank you, God. Shino smiled at the look relief on my face. But then my face got serious, and so did his.

"I don't understand. What _is_ a _Jew_?"

Shino sighed and motioned me to follow him to a quiet corner (the other boys were playing a loud game). We both sat down in large heaps of hay, facing each other. Shino leaned forward, I leaned back against the wooden wall.

I could tell Shino was searching for the right words to say. I wondered if there a bad thing to being a Jew.

"Is it bad…? Being a Jew?" I asked quietly after a long minute.

"Before, no, it wasn't a bad thing, being a Jew. But now, the Jews are in trouble."

"Did something happen that the Jews have to be punished?"

"The Jews didn't do a damned thing." he muttered.

The silence got awkward, so I asked a probably taboo question, "Are… Are you a Jew?" Shino's brows furrowed and his fists curled into tight balls. I felt a sudden odd pressure building on my shoulders. After many moments, he finally replied,

"I don't know, to tell you the truth, but I know I don't want to be treated as one. Not if risks my life and his, also…" A failed suppressed shiver quivered his lean body. A hiccup escaped.

"Jews are people. People like everyone else. People who just wanted to live peacefully and be happy with their little piece of life." Shino said suddenly, more to himself than me. I thought he had forgotten that I was here. But he make me jump when he swiftly stood up, towering over him. He looked down at me.

"Always, always, remember that every little person has feelings and emotions. Even the ones who hardly show any, still remember that they have them, too. Treat everyone like they're human beings, Naruto. Treat them like they really have a significant meaning in this twisted life we all live together, you hear?"

I nodded. "Yes, Shino. I hear." He smiled and patted my head and I smiled back.

"Don't be like _those_ people out there." He whispered as he walked over to the boys.

I picked at a piece of straw, thinking over what Shino said. _But am __**I**__a Jew?_ I pondered.

And pondered. And pondered. And pondered.

And I finally came to my conclusion a few days later when I saw a bearded man, two Jackboots, and a bucket of water next to the man.

The Jackboots laughed as one of them pushed the bearded man's face into the bucket of water and then made him wash the sidewalk with his beard. This didn't make sense to me.

The stores which they were in front of, a clothing and a book store, were darks and looked empty. These stores that were open and lively a few days ago and were now closed down and dead. Besides being closed down, they had something that the other running shops and stores didn't have.

A big, bright yellow star painted on the front window.

And I knew right then that the people who once owned these shops, and all the other bearded men on the street washing the sidewalk with their beards were no one but Jews.

I couldn't be a Jew.

* * *

**Extra Note:** I totally realize that Naruto is _supposedly_ fourteen, but he is pretty short and looks like little kid. And, since he didn't have anyone to teach him much of anything when growing up, doesn't know about a lot of things such as the four seasons, time and numbers.

Another thing, I know the boots the soldiers wear are actually called _jackboots_, but I'm using it as a general name to name the actual soldiers. I didn't want to use _Nazi_ because sounded too… too… (insert really good word here). So when Naruto is talk about the Jackboots, he's not talking about the boots, he's talking the soldiers (that are wearing the boots… xD).


	8. Derailing

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 29/10/08 (October 29, 2008)

**Chapter:** Seven

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main) and others as them come…

**Author's Note:** Something was telling me that this chapter needed to be in Sasuke's point of view. I don't know why, just needs to be, I guess. So he'll be interrupting for a bit. I wonder if the chapter is written well...

* * *

**Update:** I have fixed some of the minor mistakes and such!

* * *

**Derailing**

_**Sasuke's POV**_

* * *

_It had only been a few days since he left. It doesn't really matter. He doesn't matter. Not one bit. He's stupid. Retarded. Too short for his age. Too happy. He doesn't matter._

_But this irritating ache in my chest feels differently about him. And I hate it._

* * *

Flashes of bright blond hair kept derailing my multiple bullet trains of thought. I couldn't concentrate on my studying, and I was more irritable by the second. I had to stop everything go outside to get some fresh air. Mother was worried.

"Sasuke, dear," she called after me. "Is something wrong? I see that you're many pages behind in your textbook." I just raised my hand dismissively and kept on walking. I don't know where I was going, but I had to do something to get the dobe out my head.

The trees, now all sorts of golden yellows, reds, oranges, swayed in the slight wind. A couple of leaves blew into my hair, then the wind carried then off again. The two orange and maroon leaves danced with each other and eventually settled on the ground, not far from where I stood, nestled on top of one another. The orange one reminded me of him. I frowned.

_I can't get away from him…_

I broke into a run. The orange of the trees were beginning to be too much. My chest squeezed and ached and I didn't know why. What was this feeling? What was this boy doing to me?

His laugh. His voice. His hair. His smile. His skin. His eyes.

Orange. Dark velvet blue. Yellow. White. Tan. A brilliant, brilliant cerulean.

They all danced around in my mind. Each feature with it's appropriate color. And in the middle of it all was him. He was holding his hand out, waiting for someone to put their hand in his. Waiting for me to put my hand in his.

"Sasuke?" his voice called. I kept running. "Sasuke… Sasuke!" I didn't look back. It was all in my head, him calling my name. "Dammit! Sasuke!" I stopped. That wasn't his voice calling my name. It was too deep. The voice was also speaking in German. It couldn't be him at all. I turned to see who was calling me. "Man, I thought you would never stop. Troublesome, I swear." Shikamaru said as his ducked under a low branch, then stretched. "What are you doing in this part of the city?" This part of the city?

I finally looked around at his surroundings. Buildings were crumbled. Huge craters littered the streets and sidewalks. The twisted metal skeletons of cars were all over the place. I somehow made my way to the bombed out part of the city.

"I never thought I'd see you around here." Shikamaru yawned. He looked all around with me.

I'd known Shikamaru for a long time. Since we were little. He went to school with me, one of my closest friend. Then as we got older, our friendship went beyond friendship. And for a time, we were comfortable with our relationship. But in the end, it didn't work out. I didn't see him much after that, not because it didn't work out, though.

"Shikamaru? Shika… Where…?" A Polish voice called. There was a brief pause. "Oh! Haha! There you are! Look what me and Naruto got!" A young chubby (more like fat) boy yelled from across the street. He ran across the street and was gasping by the time got over to Shikamaru. Fat, alright.

"Are those cream puffs, Chouji? Three boxes? That's it?" Shikamaru sighed. Wow… Three boxes of cream puffs. I scoffed.

"Oh, no! Of course not. You should see how much stuff Naruto got!" Chouji smiled a wide, excited smile. "Naruto! Hurry up!" The squeaking of old, worn out wheels soon came into hearing distance. My heart was beating really fast. I wanted it to stop. Soon he came into view.

"Dammit, Chouji! You could have at least helped me pull it up the hill. I almost lost everything!"

_Dark Velvet Blue_.

"I told you that we each had to carry our own load."

"Bullshit! Some of _your_ load is on here!" He heaved and gasped as he pulled on a black long necked handle. He finally made it to the top. Sweat poured down his face. Hair glowed brightly even though it was overcast. Irritating.

_Yellow_.

"Man, a wagon? Just how much did you get, Naruto?"

"Haha! Just come take a look!" Naruto stood there in front of his wagon looking very proud.

"Naruto…" Shikamaru was stunned. Naruto's already blinding smile got bigger.

_White._

"Sweet, isn't it? If you take of those other three pastry boxes, those jars of icing, the four boxes of crackers, and those two jars of pickled eggs, you'll see that the rest is mine." The pride overflowing in his voice could have splattered all over the sidewalk.

All sorts of food poked around in the wagon. Some lower class food I've never seen or eating before and, surprisingly, some high-class foods made up half the food. A lot of sweets and sausages made up at least the other half the things in the wagon. Drinks made up a small portion.

I scooted closer to the short blond and bent down close behind him next to his ear, "You say _mine_. Are you implying that you're going to eat all this food by yourself, dobe?" He started, nearly making the wagon go rolling down the hill. I smirked victoriously.

"Sasuke?!" he gasped when he finally turned to me. "Are you stalking me?!" His eyes widened. "I never had a person stalk me before… What should I do?!"

"You know Sasuke, Naruto?" Shikamaru yawned.

"I'm not stalking you, retard. I _do_ live in the same city, you know." Naruto's eyes narrowed. They gleamed like deep blue diamonds. I frowned. I shouldn't be thinking these thoughts. He's really a retard. A lower class retard.

"Oh, don't let him get to you, Naru. We have food!" Chouji grabbed the handle of the wagon and tried to pull it, but only got a little ways. "Naru… Come pull this… I'm not as strong as you are." Naruto laughed.

_Orange_.

"Chouji, I know can pull this wagon." Humor laced Naruto's voice.

"Yeah, but you're already pulling it now."

Shikamaru walked up to Chouji and… My chest tightened as their fingers laced together and Chouji gave Shikamaru a quick peck on his lips. I don't remember my chest doing this or feeling this way when Shikamaru and I were together. It couldn't have been one-sided, could it?

"Your face is going to get stuck like that, _Mr. Stoic_." Shikamaru said in German, turning to me. He finger were still laced with Chouji's, though.

"What do you mean?" I replied, annoyance clearly written across my face. Chouji looked back and forth between us. _Translation, please?_ his expression read.

"I probably know you better than anyone you know, Sasuke." Shikamaru motioned me to avert his attention to his and Chouji's hands with just a slight, slight flicker of his eyes. I 'hn'-ed, telling him that I'd seen them.

"Either you're jealous, for what reason I don't know why, or you have feelings for someone."

"Jealous?"

"I know. Sounds absurd, doesn't it? I'm guessing it's the latter, anyway." Shikamaru shifted his weight to the other leg. Chouji was frowning. He probably didn't like not know what was going on. I glanced around for a short second. The blond was nowhere in sight. My eyes fell back on Shikamaru.

"See, you're frowning. But by the way you're acting, it seems that you don't want to feel this way about this certain person."

Damn. I frowned every time I didn't see him or when I was thinking about him. I can't let my emotions show out like that.

"You're reading me like a book. Is it really that visible?"

"No. But if you were to pay close attention… well, even then, probably not. You're good at hiding your emotions. But, I know you very well, so I catch on." Shikamaru said as he turned to go. Chouji nudged closer to him. "Sasuke." he called. He didn't turn around. "I have a feeling," he started. Usually when Shikamaru has a _feeling_, it's usually right. "that this person is right for you. Don't chase her, or possibly _him_, anyway." And he left, trailing after Naruto who had long gone.

_Possibly him…_

Shikamaru knows. And I absolutely hate it.

* * *

"How's your studies going along, brother?" I froze at the sound of the voice. Of _that_ voice. I haven't heard it in so long.

"Brother." I said, standing up and turning to him. "All is going well."

"That's not what I hear from Mother." He shook his head in mock shame, a smirk molding his features. "She says you are many pages behind. You should never be behind in anything. Not even the last letter of the last word behind." His smirk by then had turned into a deep frown. The small bags under his eyes were distracting me from what he was saying. They didn't look right on his face.

"I'm sorry, Brother." My eyes wandered elsewhere.

"Don't say sorry to me. Say it to her." He leaned up off the door seal. "You should probably do it now. Many guest are coming over very soon and of course Mother will be horribly busy getting everything set and neat."

"Guest?"

"Father's coming home for a brief visit."

"Father?" I breathed. He looked up from the floor at me and finally looked me over, ignoring me.

"You should also clean yourself up, brother. You cannot let Father see you like that." He frowned as he left my room. I frowned with him. Though inside, I was really happy. Brother had come home and not with Father to warn me that Father was coming home, even if for a brief visit.

* * *

I wondered if Brother had ever liked someone as I ran water for a bath. I never saw him with anyone. A lot of girls liked him, just like a lot of girls liked me. But I didn't like any of them, though. It's probably the same with him. But as I undress and carefully lay my clothes across the large, dark counter, and ease myself in the almost scalding hot water, my mind wanders back to the days where things where close and simple between Brother and I. Soon, bright yellow and deep cerulean seeped itself into my mind, and I didn't try to push it away this time. I thought I'd let it linger there for a while.

I'd let it linger before I have to dress in nice, formal clothes, walk down those elegant stairs to the main floor, and face the man I haven't seen in over three and a half years.


	9. Not So Pure

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 20/11/08 (November 20, 2008)

**Chapter:** Eight

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main) and others as them come…

**Author's Note:** It's almost been a years since I started, though not quite there yet. It's a cool feeling, looking back at all the progress you've made in a year's time. I feel I could to better, though. To all my readers and stalkers and such, I want to say Thanks so much for sticking with me this far. Putting up with my lateness and my lack of skill in German and Polish xD! I hope you all enjoy Chapter Eight of _Porcelain_.

Oh, and it's back in **Naruto's POV**.

* * *

**Not So Pure**

The food was piled up in the food stall. Most of it was gathered by me. '_Well done_.' Shino had said and I was beaming. I could feel my hair glow bright, my eyes shine. He gave me a hot doughnut before I left for the river. Shikamaru came with me.

"What are you doing at the river?" he asked, biting off a small bit of his doughnut.

"Well, I'm actually heading to the cellar first. I have to get my shampoo and my _loofa_, I think that's what Chlodna Pani called it, anyway."

"Who's Chlodna Pani?"

"Sasuke's mother. She has really cold skin and her house is super cold, too." I nodded.

"Yeah?"

"Yep."

"Sasuke, huh?" Shikamaru yawned.

"Yeah. Do you know him? He's a real bastard." We were at my cellar door. I noticed that Shikamaru didn't answer my question, but I didn't ask again.

"You want to come in?" I asked as I descended down the stairs. I heard his footsteps behind me. Now that I thought about it, I never invited anyone into my cellar before. Though, I guess I didn't have to invite the boys, they all ready invited in themselves many times.

"Why is everything so orange?" Shikamaru tapped the walls with his hand and the floor with his foot.

"I love the color. It warm and cozy." I smiled big as I grabbed the small brown sack from out the farthest corner of the cellar. It had everything I would need at the river. I went over to the ice box and got two bottles of water and two pre-made sandwiches and put them in the small upper compartment of the sack.

"You ready to go?" I looked around for Shikamaru.

"Yeah…" He said, sounding preoccupied. He was looking at the picture with the family silhouettes at the beach holding hands. He seemed to be hypnotized by it.

"Do you like that picture?" I asked quietly. His eyes closed just slightly.

"It's okay… Where'd you get it?"

"A lady gave it to me for keeping her store clean while she was away doing family business. She didn't ask me to do it. I don't remember the reason I did it. It was a nice store."

"Really, now?"

"Yes. It was a record and picture store. I don't remember where it is, though…"

"That's okay." Shikamaru turned away, then looked back at the picture. I wanted to ask what he saw in the picture that held his attention for so long, but he seemed in a deep, deep thought, so a let him alone. After a while, he said, "Come on, lets go."

* * *

It was later that same day, the sun was starting to go down, and Shikamaru and Chouji came over to the cellar. They bought a whole baked chicken and a big box of cupcakes. I provided the drinks, naturally. I got out a deck of cards and we sat on the rug and ate and laughed and talked. We started out with fruit juice, but as time went on, we moved on to the strawberry wine I had in the bottom of the icebox. It was fairly strong.

"You,"--hiccup--"can't do that."--hiccup--"Take that care… card back…!" Chouji said, pointing at me. He had the most out of the three of us because he was the most thirsty. Shikamaru had the least. "Hurry… Whoa! You're spinning! How are you doing that?"

"You know, what? No more for you." Shikamaru took the cup from Chouji's hands. "Naruto, get some water." I got up to get a bottle of water like asked.

"Room temperature or cold?"

"I want,"--hiccup--"Warm!" Room temperature it was.

Soon we settled down and pushed everything over to the side. I had laid a few layers of padding down so we could lay down on the floor without being cold or uncomfortable. Chouji feel asleep as soon as he laid down. He curled up into Shikamaru's side. I was getting sleepy myself.

"Oh, Shikamaru?" I didn't go on until I heard him say _hmm?_ "What's up with you and that picture? You keep looking over at it between turns of the game and when we were talking and eating, your eyes would wander over to it…" My voice got smaller as I went on.

"Troublesome…" He closed his eyes. I thought he would go on as to why he keep looking at it, but he made no sign of doing so.

"Shikamaru?" I turned my head in his direction, but he had turned over, his back to me, and his side seemed to be rising and falling evenly as if he were asleep. Maybe he was. Sleep was settling in as I tried to decide if I should see if he was really asleep. Sleep took over before I reached a decision.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of whining and whispers. There was also a soft crying. I thought it was a dream and pulled the covers over my head. But not even a minute later, a loud noise (a mix of a whine and a throaty growl) woke me back up. I sighed and rolled over to the other side and saw all the boys, even the ones that hardly spoke to the rest of us. They all looked tired and devastated. Another whine sounded. I just stared.

"What are you all doing here?" I said finally, sitting up. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"Why don't you ask the damned _Jackboots_." Kiba's voice growled in the slight darkness of the cellar. The only light from the candles in the corners made the shadows flicker across the walls and made Kiba's shadow especially scary and ominous. Akamaru, who had been whining the whole time, whined even louder.

"The Jackboots?"

"Yes, the Jackboots!" he shouted angrily. "They came in the night, when we were most vulnerable, and drove us out the barn and _burned it down_." My eye widened as he spoke.

"The… Jackboots…?" I repeated.

"Sit down, Kiba." Shino's voice croaked from the corner by the icebox. Kiba growled and the springs in the mattress creaked, telling me that he sat back down. My heart calmed only to get worked up again.

"All the food?"

"Burned down with the barn." croaked an unfamiliar voice. My eyes watered. All that food I worked so hard to gather up, gone. Destroyed all in quick moment by the people I admired the most.

* * *

We'd been in my cellar for almost three days now. I felt extremely dirty. I haven't bathed in what felt like an eternity. My body ached to go to the river. My teeth felt all grimy. My hair had started to get all matted again. The boys teased me about my seemingly unusual sense of cleanliness.

"I've never had a bath." Kiba said proudly. I frowned.

"That's disgusting." I said quietly. I usually didn't speak against Kiba about anything. I didn't want to hear his mouth and certainly didn't want him hitting me, but this I couldn't hold in.

Kiba glared at me hard. "What the point of bathing yourself if your going to get dirty five seconds later?"

"At least I don't smell as bad as you do." I retorted. The boys gasped. This was totally true. Kiba smelled the worst out of all of the boys and I the best. Even Akamaru smelled better than him and he was a dog! The gasps in hanging the in air turned into laughter.

"Why the fuck are you all laughing? That's not even funny!"

"If it was wasn't funny, Kiba, we wouldn't be laughing now, would we?" Chouji said between bouts of laughter. I looked around. The only ones not laughing were Shino and Gaara, who sat in the corner away from the rest talking in hushed voices.

"Fuck all of you…" Kiba growled as he climbed the stairs.

"Kiba…" Shino said suddenly in a warning tone of voice. Kiba turned to him, expression hard. "You are not to go out unless Shikamaru or I have checked if it's clear. You know that."

"Don't play with our chances of staying here, Kiba." All traces of laughter was gone from Shikamaru. "Get your ass back down here." Kiba's expression suddenly got tired and irritated. He looked all of us over. When he finally go to me, his face had murder written all over it.

"Today, Kiba." Shino's voice was cold and firm. My heart started to beat fast as he made his was back down the stairs towards me. He pushed past me and sat himself behind Shino and rested his forehead on his knees. It was terribly quiet for a few moments, then small talk started up, mostly centered around the Jackboots (they were avoiding the Kiba topic). Shino and Gaara had started their conversation back up with Shino make small, lazy circles on the back of one of Kiba's hands. I went to the little padding area and laid down with my bare back against the cool wall. I had felt suddenly hot and dizzy.

-

"Ah-tchoo!"

"God, Naruto! Stop it with the sneezing already! It's getting on my nerves." Kiba voice sounded in the pitch black darkness of the cellar. I think it was a shoe that hit me in the face.

"I'm…"--ah-tchoo!--"Tarrie (Sorry)… I 'eel all 'unny in'ide… Tino…"

"You're sick, Naru, and at the worst time, too."

"Tick? Am I ganna die?" I sounded funny too.

He sighed. "No, you're not going to die. He got up and soon came over to me and pulled me up to my feet. My head had started to spin and I feel over before Shino could do anything else. "Shikamaru…" That's all I understood Shino say before he started talking in German. I was beginning to get the feeling that everyone could speak German except me.

"Come on, Naruto. Get up."

"The room… It keep goin' around 'n' around 'n' around forever..."

"Today, Naruto." I reached my hand up for Shino to pull on, then sneezed, pulling my hand away before he could grab it. "Oh, no. I'm ganna die…"

* * *

**End Note:** I'm thinking about taking a break after this chapter to start studying for this big exam coming up in January. I might, might not. I'll be telling you ahead of time if I make up my mind to do so. Aside from that, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)


	10. Achoo!

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 27/12/08 (Dec. 27, 2008)

**Chapter:** Nine

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…

**Author's Note:** Oh, wow! It's a new year! 2008 went by so fast… Anyway, you guys wondering why I'm updating so early (it's not really early, but it is earlier than usual)? Well, because it's a gift, from me to you. Today, the 17th,is my birthday! So, you all get two chapters for the month of January instead of the usual one!

Well, today is now the 18th (it's early, early in the morning…), but still!

So, without further ado, please enjoy chapter nine of Porcelain!

* * *

**Achoo!**

I was moving. Not with my own energy though. Someone was carrying me. On… on his back, I believe. The someone was talking to another someone. Their voices were familiar. They sounded far, far away even though they were so close. My head was spinning and I felt cold, then hot, then cold again. It was terribly annoying. I tried to speak, to tell them of this annoyance, but my lips didn't respond. My voice was trapped in my throat. I tried to open my eyes, but they to didn't respond. Maybe because they were so heavy. What was happening? Did I die?

* * *

I guess I didn't.

It had been two and half days since Shino and Shikamaru dropped me off.

"Nyan Nyan?" Chlodna Pani's voice cut through the darkness of my now conscious mind. "Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaan~?" A big smile spread across my face as I opened my eyes slightly. She squealed a little and hugged me. "Wie werden Sie sich?" She put the back of her hand to her forehead, then did a thumbs up, then a thumbs down to show what she meant. I nodded and put up two thumbs. I felt better. A lot better really.

"Da er ist in Ordnung, kann er nun verlassen?" Sasuke's irritated voice sounded from the hall. Chlodna Pani frowned and got up and went out to the hallway. I wondered what Sasuke had said to make her frown.

She soon came back, a weary smile on her face and she kissed me on the forehead. "Zeit für Sie zur Ruhe einigen." She put her hands up and together and tilted her head so that it was laying on her hands and made soft snoring sounds. I nodded to showed that I understood and slid down further under the heavy comforter. Her smile got a little brighter and she got up, dimmed the lights, and left.

-

There were eyes on me. I could feel them.

I quickly sat up in the purple and pink murky light of the early, early sun. I carefully looked around, looking for something out of place, looking for that someone laying their dark eyes on me, but everything was normal, as far as I can see. Though, I do remember Chlodna Pani closing the door when she left. It was open, the ever growing light of the sun sneaking in through the slight opening. I slipped out of the bed, the thick under sheet wrapped tightly around me.

It was very quiet. The halls looked bigger and a bit scarier without the usual lighting. I felt my way a little the in darker part of the hall to the stairs. I believed that Chlodna Pani's room was on the upper floor along with Sasuke's. I had made it up easy enough, save some of the embarrassing stumbling and damage to my shins.

It was still and peaceful, just like the rest of the house. More doors littered the walls on this floor. This really knocked my confidence of finding Chlodna Pani's room on least my third try way down. Just threw it down and burned it to the ashes, then burned the ashes, then burned the ashes of the ashes (it was really that bad…). I had already made it a quarter of the way down the hall when I started to contemplate turning around and just forget about the open door and the eyes. I sighed and turned to go back to my room when I bumped into a firm bodied somebody and fell to my rear. I prayed to anything that was up enough to be listening this early in the morning that it was just a wall or Chlodna Pani (though, I don't think she would be that muscular… more squishy, maybe..) and not Sasuke (hmm, hopefully he's not squishy…).

I wrapped up the short prayer and opened my eyes to see what I had ran into. I almost pissed myself I was so scared. It was Sasuke. But then I noticed that his face looked older and his hair longer than the last time I saw him. There was no way he could age this quickly in such a short amount of time. Impossible.

"I… uh…" I then remembered that this was a German family and that Sasuke was probably the only one able to speak Polish. That sucked.

The man towered over me, staring me down. I felt like I had grew to the size of an ant and he was about to step on me and grind me into the ground. All my insides hurt.

"So, you're Sasuke's little infatuation." The man finally said, his slightly deep velvet-like voice penetrating my being and paralyzing it. I tried to move to get up and sadly failed, only able to get my hand over my mouth.

Infatuation? I wished I knew what that meant.

"Looking for Mother?" He said in a hushed voice. I felt like crying I was so scared. I didn't know what to do or what this man would do to me. I just sat there, looking up at him, my eyes wide. His eyes, dark and mysterious like Sasuke's, narrowed.

"You are never to come up here without permission again, you hear?" I nodded so fast I thought my head might have snapped off and, finally being released from the spell he had over me, rushed past him and flew down the stairs. It is a miracle to this day that I didn't fall or trip or even die on my way down.

* * *

I had slept three straight days after that encounter, waking up in a cold sweat screaming at the end of third day. Chlodna Pani was horribly worried and had not eaten the whole time.

I didn't know what was wrong with me.

Nothing had happened to me. No one did anything to me (the man's warning did me no true harm, just scared the living shit out of me…). The whole time I was sleep, I had not one dream, so nothing could have sent me screaming myself awake. I was scared. Also, I was beginning to get weak. I had not eaten but once the whole time. My stomach wouldn't take in anything after that one time.

-

It was late in the afternoon, almost a full week since I'd been there, that I had finally seen Sasuke for the first time. He was bringing me some hot tea because my throat was all irritated. But when I looked up at him, expecting him to have his usual snobby look on his face and his bastard-ass attitude, I was completely devastated.

He was all broken. His face was sullen and tired. His right arm was in a cast and was held up by a sling. Bruises littered his left arm and his neck. And he walk was a really bad limp. My chest twisted to the point where it just tore and I started to choke. My eyes watered and I couldn't stop the tears from falling nor could I hide them before Sasuke saw me. I hid my face in the comforter, which was not comforting at all, and cried and cried and cried. I knew Sasuke would hate me forever for crying for him, but I couldn't help it. Seeing him in the state he was in that day ripped a huge, empty void deep in my soul.

* * *

**End Note:** Yay! Happy Birthday me!

Hmm, even though this is a happy day, this chapter doesn't seem very happy. Well, this chapter was going to come up sooner or later, on a happy day or not, I guess, though, I didn't really plan this chapter out… well… I don't plan any of my chapters, really, but this one was really just out the blue. I fail when it comes to planning out a story. I have is a general idea of what I want to write and then I just fit in chapters and subplots where they fit and make sense. Makes the story more fun to write and hopefully more fun and enjoyable to read, right?


	11. The Ghetto

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 15/1/09 (Jan. 15, 2009)

**Chapter:** Ten

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…

**Author's Note:** Let's get things going a bit, shall we? This is the second chapter for January. I was supposed to have it out last Saturday (the 23rd, I believe…), but I couldn't find the time to finish it up. But it is up now (just in time, too!)

Please enjoy chapter ten of _Porcelain_!

* * *

**The Ghetto**

A servant of the Uchiha household sent me on my way the next day. The servant gave me a new bag that Chlodna Pani sewn herself that had contained shampoo, a new loofa, body soap, a coloring book with crayons, and a blank drawing pad. I had found it weird that he had apologized (In German of course, but I knew he was saying sorry by the look on his face and the tone of his voice) for sending me away so early (both early in the day and early as far as my stay there went). I shrugged it off and told him to not worry about it by smiling assuredly.

Nothing was on my mind at the moment. Not even Sasuke. I tried to keep him out of my head as much as possible. The internal gash in my chest didn't hurt as much when my mind wasn't on him. I walked down the long path to the main road.

-

I had sat down again for the fifth time since I left. I was still weak from lack of food. I rested my head against the pole of the street light and looked around. Odd, there were hardly any people around, save for the Jackboots strolling around, and the people who _were_ around were packing their things into small pull carts that were built to be pulled by horses. There was not one horse in sight, though.

Slowly, I got up and worked my way to one lady who was leaning against a cart. She was at least seventeen.

"Ma'am?" She turned her head to me, her light chestnut brown hair falling a little in her odd dark bluish eyes. "What are you doing? Where is your horse for your cart?"

"I'm afraid that we won't be able to have a horse pull our cart for us." She frowned.

"That's a lot of things in there, though. It's bound to be heavy, ma'am." A thoughtful look came about on my face as I looked at all the things and knickknacks on her cart. "You can't possibly be able to pull this to wherever you are going by your lonesome. Not even a block up before getting tired, maybe…" I was getting a little confused now.

"Johannah! Come help me and Father with this!" a fairly young male voice call from the little shop. Their home was on top of the shop.

"Coming!" She ran a little towards the shop, then turned to me. "Be right back, lad. Watch cart for me please?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I smiled big and stood guard in front of the cart. I stood at attention. I looked left, then right, switching every five to ten seconds. The Jackboots were still about, walking casually and talking to their girlfriends. A deep hate started to burn in the pit of my stomach and it was getting bigger and hotter as the minutes went by. Before it could get any bigger or hotter, Johannah came out carrying a wardrobe with her father, a good looking fellow, not too old looking, but not young either, and brother, young boy at least fifteen. I'm guessing the boy was her brother, though they looked nothing alike. She looked a whole lot like her father. Same hair color, almost same eye color, same round-looking face.

"Easy, now. Easy…" the supposedly brother said as they loaded it onto the cart. "Yes! I'll go get the small things and then we're going to head on out." The father nodded.

"I don't want to go…" Johannah said, her eyes shining from ready-to-fall tears. She put her arm up to her eye to stop the tears and turned to get on the cart. She bumped into me. "Oh! I'm sorry, lad! I almost forgot you were watching the cart." She wiped away more tears. "Thank you very much. Here…" She reached into the left pocket of her dress and pulled out a small gold pin. "I shan't need it anymore. It'll be safe in your possession." I shook my head and tried to give it back to her. "No, no. Keep it. Watch and see, child, for I am right." She smiled, then climbed onto the cart. Before long, she was down the street. Her father and supposedly brother waved goodbye to me before grabbing the long wooden bar in front of the cart and started to heave up the street. Johannah did not wave, though. She was looking down at her hands…

* * *

I twirled the pin between my fore finger and thumb in my pocket as I sat in the shade (though it wasn't hot at all), and watched the parade of people walk by, going as slow as fucking molasses rolling _up_ a hill, I swear. I wanted to just push them over and yell at them for going so slow, for wasting my time. My head started to pound and I had to just stop thinking for a long moment. How silly of me. Getting unnecessary headaches over something so tedious and stupid.

"Naru! Naaaaru!" It was Chouji calling me. He was the only one that ever called me that. He called out my name once more, then his head peered around the corner into the short, shallow ally I was in and came hurrying down. "Naru! I found you!" Desperation overflowed in his voice.

"Chouji! What wrong?" I forgot all about the parading people behind him. "Where is Shikamaru?"

"That's why I'm here." He sat down beside me, a worried and panicked look took over his features and tone of voice. "Him and the rest of the boys are being herded into a sectioned off place in the city along with a ton of other people." He held up his wrist in my face, then. A white band with a peculiar blue star emblem was embroidered on it. "The Jackboots are making them were this band. _Juden_ they said."

The Jackboots again. What were they up to now?

I got up, dusted myself off, pulled on my new backpack, and started toward the mouth of the ally. The people were still marching up the street. I turned to Chouji, who was right at my heels.

"What do…" I stopped myself. I was going to say _What do you want me to do?_, but that sounded too mean and that wasn't my intent. "Where is the enclosure?"

"Near the train station." Chouji pointed in the general direction of the station. "Right next to it, actually." I nodded and started to walk when I bumped into a big, plump person. "Oh!" it gasped and pulled me up to me feet as fast as I went down. It's arm had the same band that Chouji had on.

"Sorry, sorry, honey." a female voice sounded from the plump frame and it waddled on with the rest of the people. I never saw her face. It was all covered up in head rags.

"These people are going to the place. See? They have the bands on just like us."

Us?

"You mean you and the rest of the boys. I don't have one." I corrected. I held both of my wrists in his face. "See? No band."

"Humph. Lucky…"

* * *

When we got there, there was a brick wall (which was still being built at the time) surrounding part of the city and had the railroad running through, though there was no way to get close to the rails. I could only go up to the metal wire fence and the rails would be on the other side of it. The metal fence ran from where it met the brick wall, all the way in the other direction forever it seemed. Barbed wire was cluttered on top and at the bottom on the other side.

We stepped over a low part of the wall and, like that, we were in the enclosure. That was too easy. Chouji went running as soon as we were on the other side, shouting Shikamaru's name over and over. I followed him.

As I walked around, I noticed that the people with the odd bands on their arms started pour in from a large black iron gate. All of them ran into the empty settlements, pushing down others, spitting in their faces as they ran past someone not of their family, if they even had one. The children ran about in the courtyards, laughing and tagging each other. Even they wore the bands. I shivered.

I caught up to Chouji just he had jumped on Shikamaru. Shikamaru had been in front of a two story settlement way, way in the back of the enclosure, just standing there, staring up at the sky. The way he was looking up made me realize something.

"Shikamaru? I though that you all were back in the cellar. What are you doing here?"

"We couldn't stay in the cellar. We would have been trapped if we were still down there."

"What do you mean?"

"They burned down the barbershop. If we all hadn't gotten out of the cellar when we had, we would have eventually suffocated. The latch leading down is now welded to the ground, so you can't pull it open anymore." I was speechless. My cellar…

"How did you know to get out?" Chouji said when I didn't speak.

"Akamaru was having a horrible fit. He kept barking and whining and jumping up at the opening. When Kiba opened the hatch, he bolted out and behind the shop next door, whining and covering his face with his paws. Kiba told us that we have to leave. That Akamaru had sensed something bad. By time we all got out, the Jackboots were marching down the street, burning everything down in their path, the barbershop included."

"It's good that all of you got out safe." Chouji sighed in relief. "Where are they anyway?" Shikamaru pointed to the settlement behind him.

It was quiet for a long moment. Shikamaru had went back to looking at the sky. Chouji was sitting at his feet, drawing in the dirt. I was just standing there, looking like a dumbass. Everything that Shikamaru had just said was running through my mind. This thought would crash into that thought and my head would start to swell. Each collision made my head swell little by little by little. Then Broken Sasuke somehow worked his way into the mess and made everything a hundred fold worse. My heart was in my ears. I could feel my breathing becoming more shallow with each breath.

_Naruto! Naruto!_

Someone was calling my name. I think it was Shikamaru. Why was he so far away?

_Naruto! Snap out of it!_

I was being shaken back and forth. Shikamaru was yelling my name again. He voice sounded panicked. What was happening? I wasn't getting sick again, was I?

_Shino!_

Was something happening to Shino, too?

Where was my eye sight? I could still see things, but at the same time, I couldn't see a thing. My sense of hearing seemed to be bad, too. Everyone who was shouting or calling up others sounded so far away, yet I knew they couldn't be no more than a foot or less away from me. Shino's voice called out to me.

_Calm down, Naruto. You're overreacting. Take deep breaths._

I wanted to tell him that I was scared. I couldn't concentrate long enough to do that.

Then everything went black.

* * *

"God, Gaara. Was that really necessary?"

"I think you killed him."

"He's dead?!"

I'm dead?

"Can I have his backpack?"

What?!

"No!"

"I want it!"

"No! NO! I WANT IT!!!!!!"

"Stop it! No one is having the backpack except Naruto."

"But… he's dead…"

"He is not dead, you dip-shits. He's knocked out. See? He's still breathing…"

"Damn…"

"You should've hit him harder, Gaara."

"I really wanted that backpack."

I hope I wasn't dead. They'd tear me apart for my stuff if I was.

* * *

The sky was purple-pink when I woke up. A dull pain ached in the back of my neck. I rested my hand on it gently as I got up from the small mattress and felt my way to the little area of padding where Shikamaru and Chouji lay. I tapped Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Shikamaru… Shikamaru, wake up, please." He rolled over to face me, then, a moment later, his eyes slowly fluttered open. His eyes looked around, confused, then finally focused on me. He yawned.

"Naaaaaaaruuuto…" he yawned my name. "What's wrong?"

"Where are we?" I said in a hushed whisper. I stretched my body out on the floor, then faced Shikamaru.

"In the little house."

"We are still in the enclosure?"

"This is where we live now."

"Why?"

"I don't know." He was lying.

"I don't want to live here. This is not home."

Shikamaru didn't say anything this time. His eyes were closed. He chest went up and down. He wasn't sleeping.

"Shikama--" He held up a finger, hushing me. He turned around, back into his original position, and quietly said,

"Go back to sleep. It's too early in the morning to even try to attempt to think." And that was that. He said no more.

-

Later on in the day, Shino had gave the enclosure a name. Terminology, really. The _ghetto_. He said it was not home, but until we find _home_, this is where we would be staying. We were in _transition_, he said.

_Ghetto_.

The word echoed about in my head. I wondered why it was called that. It was a weird name. I like calling it an _enclosure_. It doesn't sound so evil when you call it that.

* * *


	12. Benedykt's Crush

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 31/1/09 (Jan. 31, 2009)

**Chapter:** Eleven

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…

**Author's Note:** **This is February's chapter!** I love this chapter bunches. And it's also longer than my average chapter. About 1,100 words longer than normal :D~!

Nothing much to say, really.

So, please enjoy chapter eleven of _Porcelain_~!

* * *

**Benedykt's Crush**

It had been three days since the boys were put in the enclosure. We roamed around for the first day. I saw a tree that looked like a good climbing tree. Shino found a promising bookstore. Shikamaru found a good napping place. The second day, we all slept through most of the day, getting up an hour or so before the sun started to set. The third day we all woke up early and planned to take another tour around. Kiba stole some pastries and we had them for breakfast. They were semi-sweet.

The sky was turning from its morning pink-orange to its early and fresh blue and the few birds still around started to chirp their cheery morning song when we all filed out of the little house, Shikamaru and Shino in the front leading us. We each were munching on our second pastry. All of a sudden, Shikamaru and Shino turned around. Everybody bumped into each other.

"We are splitting up." Shikamaru announced.

"Why?" Rock Lee questioned. Gaara looked at him impatiently. "I thought we were taking another tour around… all of us together…" Rock Lee started to bounce from one foot to the other nervously.

"Today, we are going to go in groups of two and do little mini tours of a section of this place." Shino explained. "We need to get to know the area."

"In case of emergency or something?" Chouji said, stretching. Shino nodded.

"Can't we go back to bed and sleep for another hour or so? I'm super tired…" Kiba tugged on Shino's shirt sleeve. "The sun is still not all the way in the sky…"

"No, Kiba. You can sleep later. Plus, I need you to pair up with me." Shino said to him, patting his head when he laid it down on his shoulder. Their fingers laced loosely together. I noticed this.

"More sleep would be nice." Gaara said, folding his arms. He rested against a small, but firm nearby tree. Rock Lee continued to bounce.

* * *

Shikamaru had paired us all up with another in the group (only one person was left without a partner. Jan, I think his name was). I got paired up with one of the more unknown boys in the group. He's always with the other two lesser known boys. He's very quiet and polite. He's also the one who sleeps the longest out of the little group.

"Be back here when the sun is highest in the sky." Shikamaru said, walking off, Chouji trailing behind him. We set off.

* * *

My partner and I were to tour the northwest part of the enclosure. It was a while before we got to the very top corner of the enclosure. There were large, tall metal wire gates with barbed wire at the top running in two directions forever.

The boy tugged on the back of my shirt. "What are we looking for exactly?" His voice was so small.

"Anything or place that might aid us one day. Kind of like a secret place just for us." The boy nodded to show that he understood, then a confused look came about his face.

"Naruto, why are we here?"

"In this part of town? Because the Jackboots put you guys here."

"No, I mean, why are we surrounded by gates? Why are we being herded into a pen like animals?" His large, hazel eyes bore into my blue, searching desperately for an answer. For an answer that I didn't have.

I turned away from his stare and started walking. "Come on. We've got to find something before the sun is high."

He trotted hopelessly after me.

-

I believe we did good.

We had found two good bakeries and a low gap in a stone wall behind some thick undergrowth that we both were able to squeeze through with ease. The boy had pointed out that the wall looked just like the one being built at the front of the enclosure.

"There might be more gaps in that wall, too," he had said. I smiled and patted his head, praising him. He had blushed.

We had also found another group of children, about four to six people, ages ranging from at least eight to thirteen, hiding out on top floor of an old, dusty apartment building. I had notice two of them going in and peering out the window at the top. They didn't see us and we didn't interact with them. That was something for Shino or Shikamaru to do.

* * *

We were heading back, the sun crawling closer to the middle of the sky, when the boy asked me a unusual question.

"Why are you so conceited?"

I turned around, the most confused look on my face. "Con…ceited?" He nodded. "I don't even know what that word means."

"Why do you put yourself above the others like you're better?"

I looked at him straight on. He was being rude. I was look for a mocking expression on his face or something like it, but I that was there was pure curiosity.

"I… don't do that…"

"Yes, you do."

"How?"

"Just because you have blond hair and just because the Jackboots haven't given you an armband, you think you are safe. You think you are better than the rest of the boys. They all got armbands." The boy held up his left arm. The white of the armband reflected the blinding light of the sun. The blue star stood out like it was about to jump off.

"I don't think like that. I don't even understand the meaning behind the armbands or why the Jackboots act the way they do. You shouldn't call people 'conceited' or other nonsense like it. I go where the boys go. We all have to stick together, armband or no armband."

* * *

"Naruto and Benedykt. What did you two find?" Shikamaru came up to us, a pencil in one hand and tattered piece of paper in the other. I took note of the boy's name as Shikamaru folded the paper to a new blank spot. "Come on."

We gave our report. I did all the talking, though, telling Shikamaru where we were and what I found. The boy, Benedykt, just nodded and agreed with everything I said. I told Shikamaru every detail I could remember. I told him about the group of children. His face showed a small sliver of surprise when I mentioned the children. I didn't mention the gaps in the stone wall. Something inside me was telling me that it wasn't time to tell them. Benedykt didn't say anything about the gaps either. Benedykt didn't say anything at all.

Shikamaru nodded with satisfaction. We all talked and mingled in front of the house for a few. Soon, we separated, some going into the house, some going to explore some more. I went into the house, determined to crawl under my comforter and sleep 'til tomorrow.

But when I reached my mattress, Benedykt was there, seeming to have been waiting for me.

"Uh… Hi, Benedykt…"

"Hello."

The silence that followed was horribly awkward. He stared at me, waiting for me to respond. My eyes darted this way and that, trying to think of something to do. I felt like I could just faint.

"I like you." My brows scrunched together as I pointed to myself. He nodded. "I like you a lot."

"I… um… You… uh, I have to go…" I stammered as I ran out the room. I could feel his eyes on my as I stumbled down the stairs.

-

"Shino! Shino!" I cried as I approached him and Kiba. They were sitting in the shade under the tree, relaxing. Akamaru was close by, sleeping soundly. Shino's head was in Kiba's lap with Kiba's fingers gently laced in his hair. Kiba's expression turned hard and cold when sat down in front of them three feet away. "I… I have problem."

"We don't care. Now, go away." Kiba was shooing me away with his hand. Shino reached up and grabbed Kiba's shooing hand.

"Let's hear what he has to say, first." Shino said. He then gestured me to explain my problem. I looked at Kiba for a brief moment, then at the ground.

"Well?" Kiba's voice was hard.

"I… Well, you know that one boy I was paired up with for the mini tour?"

"Benedykt? The one with hazel eyes?"

"Yeah, that's him." I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. "He… um…"

"Come on already."

"Well, I had went up to my mattress to go back to sleep for the rest of the day, but when I got there, the boy was there, waiting for me on my mattress. I didn't know what to do, so I stood there, waiting for him to leave. But then, he comes out of nowhere and says that he likes me! I really don't know what that means, but it made me feel funny and annoyed inside. I mean, I don't even know him and he doesn't even know me! And now I don't know what to do! I don't like him at all!" I was out of breath and my eyes had started to fill a little with frustrated tears. I wiped at my eyes, trying to clear my vision.

Shino chuckled as sat up briefly to stretch, then laid his head back down in Kiba's lap. "Why don't you like him?"

"Because, I don't even know him. I can't like someone I hardly know."

"It has nothing to do with the fact he's a boy and he likes you?"

"No. I don't care that he's a boy… Why?"

Shino shook his head, a faint smile on his face. Kiba's eyebrows had risen up. "Naruto," Shino started. "Do you know the difference between liking someone as a friend and liking someone as something more than a friend?"

"I think…"

"Explain."

I thought for a minute. "Well, when you like someone as a friend, you just like their company and you like to hang out with them and have fun with them. But when you like someone more than a friend, you…" I didn't know how explain how someone would feel if they liked another more than a friend. I thought and thought and thought. And then, Sasuke popped up in my mind. This Sasuke wasn't broken and beaten up. He was normal. Perfect. The feelings I felt when I was around him and saw him came back. The dream I had of him came back to me. "When you like someone more than a friend, you want to be close to them all the time. You want to get to know them more. You want to make them laugh and smile. You want to make them happy."

Shino and Kiba looked at each other, then smiled. I noticed how soft Kiba's eyes became when he looked at Shino. Kiba likes Shino more than a friend. Shino likes Kiba more than a friend.

Benedykt likes me more than a friend.

But I don't like Benedykt.

"Shino," I started. "I don't know what to say to him."

"Tell him that you don't like him like that."

"What if he gets mad or gets violent?"

Kiba laughed. "Benedykt? Violent? That's never going to happen."

"Could one of you be close by at least?" I was really nervous.

"Okay. We'll both be outside the room in the hall." Shino said, sitting up, then standing. Stretched and yawned. "Come one, Kiba." Kiba muttered curses as he was pulled up to his feet by Shino. I led the way back inside.

-

"Naruto!" Benedykt cried as I walked back into the room. I couldn't believe that he was still in the room, on my mattress, too.

"Have… Have you been waiting here the whole time?"

"Yes." He smile a big smile. My legs felt weak. Benedykt bounced up and down on my mattress and for the first time, I actually looked him over.

His face was round like a little child. His voice was really high pitched. His eyes were big and round like a child's. When he stood next to me, he was at least a whole head shorter than me.

"Benedykt, how old are you?"

"At least ten. Maybe eleven. That's what Bernard told me, anyway."

From what Chlodna Pani told me, I was at least fifteen.

"Excuse me." I slipped out of the room. "Shino, fifteen is bigger than ten and eleven right?"

"Yeah."

"Is it bad if a ten or eleven year old likes a fifteen year old?"

"It may be…"

I stepped back into the room. Benedykt was still there, waiting patiently like always.

"Benedykt, it's really cute that you like me and you want to be with me, but I don't like you back." It _was_ really cute when I thought about it.

"You don't like me?" Benedykt's eyes somehow got bigger and tears started to fill them.

"Not like how you like me." The boy's head drooped down. He drew imaginary circles on the floor with his foot. "We can only be friends, okay? We can hang out every once in a while, okay?" He nodded solemnly. This wasn't as bad nor hard as I thought it would be.

"Now, may I get to my mattress so I can finally go back to sleep?" I nodded, smiling apologetically. I watched him as he walked awkwardly to the door. When he finally walked out the room, I pulled off my shirt and stripped down to my underwear. I fished some shorts out of my backpack (I always keep shorts with me for trips to the river), and stretched, finally winding down.

"I still like you even though you don't like me." Benedykt's voice whispered from behind me. I felt him press his face to my back. He wrapped his thin arms around my waist. "One day, I'll be old enough to be with you."

"My God…" I muttered.

* * *

For the next four days, Benedykt would stalk me and give me his extra pastries or candy. I woke up one morning with him staring right me. I swear I almost pissed myself…

"I still like you, Naruto."

"You'll like me one day."

"We're going to be together forever."

What was with this kid?

One night, all the boys sat in a circle (or something like it) in the main living area and just talked and laughed and played games. It was here that I noticed the pair of people that are always together. Shino and Kiba, like always. Shikamaru and Chouji. The others just kind of mingled a little bit with everyone except for Gaara. He didn't talk to anyone really, didn't really mingle with anyone. But Rock Lee always found his way over to Gaara. Gaara would sometimes talk to him and other times, he just ignored the poor boy completely. This seemed to not bother him at all. He would just sit next to Gaara, enjoying the company.

And before I got paired up with Benedykt, he would always be with the other three lesser known boys, Bernard, Dominik, and Jan. They would sit in a corner together chatting about whatever. And Benedykt would never really say anything. He would laugh quietly every now and again.

Well, after my observing, I happened to notice that Benedykt was nowhere to be seen. After the many times he's jumped on me (more like attacked me) from behind, I was afraid to look behind me, but I did anyway.

And I'm glad I did.

Because he was coming in real fast, getting ready to pounce on me. I scooted to the side two spaces and held my arm out. His eyes grew big as he saw what I was doing and tried to slow down, but it was too late. He tripped over my arm and nearly flew all the way to the other end of the room.

"Dammit! Leave me alone! I don't like you!" I screamed.

It was quiet as everyone took in what was happening. In the corner, Bernard's face was turning red with anger.

"Benedykt! How could you?!" Bernard yelled at him. "You're turning into _them_!"

"_Them_?" Kiba questioned and looked over to Shino and Shikamaru. They boy shrugged.

"_Them_! _You_!" He pointed to Shino and Kiba. "And _you_!" He pointed then to Chouji and Shikamaru. "You demons!"

"Demons?" Rock Lee looked down at his trembling fingers. Tears welled up in his dark eyes. I started towards him, but Gaara was already there, not exactly hugging him or comforting him, just sitting close to him. He put Rock Lee's hand on his knee, and placed his own hands on the other knee and rested his head on top of them.

"You! The blond boy!" Bernard called out. "What have you done to my brother?!"

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

"Do you think this is right?"

"Is what right?"

"Don't play dumb! Do you think it is right for a boy to like another boy like this?!" It was silent. The air got heavy and tense. Akamaru let out a throaty, drawn-out whine.

Was it right?

* * *

"Bernard. Benedykt. You two are banned from our group. You two are to stay away from us and our haven." Shino stated firmly. The two brothers were pushed out the door.

"Does Benedykt have to be banned? He didn't do anything wrong." I whispered to Shikamaru.

"No, he didn't have to be. But he wanted to be with his brother."

Shino waited until they were out of sight before closing the door. He sighed heavily.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru stretched. Shino started upstairs, Shikamaru following suit.

"Wait," I called softly. The two boys turned around. "Was… It is right?"

"Naruto…"

"It's right, isn't it?"

"There's no right nor is there a wrong. If you only have feelings for boys and nothing else, then it's just that. If you only have feelings for girls and nothing else, then it's just that. And if you have feelings for both boys and girls, then it's just that. There's nothing wrong with liking a boy and you too are a boy." Shino explained gently.

"And it's the same with girls." Shikamaru added.

"Girls can like other girls, too?" They both nodded.

"Does it bother you that Shikamaru and I like boys?"

"Not at all." I assured. "I thought it was a normal, everyday thing."

"It is a normal thing."

"Are you okay now?" Shikamaru asked. I nodded and they smiled and continued on up stairs.

I went to bed that night feeling easy and relieved. I danced in my dreams with one I liked, even if he was a total stuck-up bastard.

* * *


	13. Fresher Air

**Title:** Porcelain

**Author:** Your Existence

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Date:** 15/2/09 (Feb. 15, 2009)

**Chapter:** Twelve

**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…

**Author's Note:** **This is March's chapter!** I like this chapter too. For those who have been waiting for Sasuke to return, your wish have been granted! He's all up in the next chapter and possibly in the chapter(s) after that~ (There's going to be a time where he always there, but we haven't got there yet ;D)

That's it really. So, please enjoy chapter Twelve of _Porcelain_~!

* * *

**Fresher Air**

In a month's time, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Gaara, Rock Lee, Dominik, Jan, and I have stored food in one large room. There wasn't a chance that the Jackboots would burn down this home of ours (besides the fact that it was all brick and we all believed that brick absolutely could not burn).

In a month's time, we had developed and maintained a routine. Each of us has something different to do everyday concerning the household. Someone takes out the trash. Someone makes up all the beds. Someone keeps the walls clean. Someone cleans up the rooms. Someone makes sure that the others aren't sneaking food and drinks from out the Food Vault. There's always something to do, or at least, Shino found something for you to do. And if you do your chore right the first time or kept up with your chore, you'd have the rest of the day to play, explore, sleep, whatever.

In a month's time, I learned what months and days were. I learned how to count to higher numbers. I learned how to read and spell out my name and how to read the names of all the other boys, too.

In a month's time, I had begun to notice that the enclosure was getting more and more people almost everyday. I wondered how so many people can fit into what seemed to be such a small space. I also noticed how the Jackboots came every Sunday just to stroll around with women on their arms. Some of the Jackboots carried a black box like thing with them and aimed it at various people. I had experienced this first hand one day while out on an errand with Shikamaru.

Rock Lee had been playing out front by himself and somehow tripped and fell and ended up with a gash on his leg. Shino had sent Shikamaru out to go and get some bandages and I decided to tag along.

"Where are we going to get bandages from?" I had asked Shikamaru as we walked down the street towards the center of the enclosure.

"From the _market_."

"Market?"

"You'll see." He said as we turned a corner. I had never been in the center before. I was always sleeping or playing either in our little house or in front of it. So I was curious and excited and jumping the whole way there.

"Is it--" I started, but Shikamaru shushed me.

"You'll see," He repeated. I couldn't wait to see what this _market_ was. I imagined that the market was this gigantic building as big as the world itself where inside, there were all sorts of things and all sorts of things _happening_. There were all sorts of people who could make things appear and disappear with a flick of the wrist. With a snap of a finger. Maybe there were animals as smart as people who sold things and told stories. Maybe a person there made things from other things or even from the air. This was probably the person Shikamaru was going to get the bandages from. I couldn't wait.

Shikamaru grabbed my arm suddenly and pulled me over to the other side of the street. I was about to ask Shikamaru was that was for when the reason passed as up on the other side. A Jackboot with two women with him kept strolling along. One of the women cradled the box-like thing in her hands. She clutched it tightly when she laughed at whatever they were talking about. Shino's voice rang in my head.

'_Always stay away from the Jackboots._'

He had said this after the barn was burned down. Shikamaru sighed heavily. I expected for him to say 'how troublesome', but he didn't say anything. We walked on.

It wasn't long before we ran into another Jackboot couple. We managed to avoid them too, but as soon as we reached the corner across the way, a Jackboot and two ladies turned the same corner and ran into us. I fell down.

One of the women said something in German, though it sounded a little rough, nothing like Shikamaru's or Sasuke's, or Chlodna Pani's German, which was smooth. The Jackboot laughed, though I wondered at what. At her bad German or what she actually said? Or maybe at what she meant to say.

The Jackboot looked up at the sky, which was grey with clouds. He spoke, "Es ist ein feiner Tag. Nehmen wir ein paar Bilder. Ja?" He kneeled down and brought up the black box up to his face. I backed up a few steps. What was he doing? Was he about to shoot us? Just like that? He brought the black box down from his face, frowning. "Blond Jungen. Hälst du immer noch." He pointed at me and motioned for me to get back in my original spot. I didn't move. "Jetzt!"

"Naruto. Get back up here." Shikamaru said from the side of his mouth. "It's not going to harm you. It's just a camera."

"A 'camera'?"

"I'll explain after they're gone. Now come on." I nodded and stood back at my original spot. I tried not to shake as the Jackboot brought the black box back up to his face. He slid his finger over to a large button and I had to fight down the urge to scream as he pushed I down. As Shikamaru had promised, the black box did nothing. Nothing pierced through me as I thought it would.

"Gut." The Jackboot said as he stood back upright. "Gut." He repeated as he handed over the black box to the lady to his right and started on his way, the two ladies trailing after him. They snickered and laughed as they turned down a corner. My stomach felt uneasy and something was coming up in my throat burning the whole way up.

I fell to my knees with sickening feeling as I threw up all over the sidewalk. Shikamaru was beside me, rubbing my back.

* * *

It was maybe an hour before we were off again, walking through the enclosure. My stomach was calm now, but growling. I was hungry.

"What was that thing? The camera thing…" I asked Shikamaru.

"A camera is what takes pictures." His voice sounded annoyed.

"Like the ones in my cellar? But those were painted with colours." I thought for a moment. "Does the camera have paints and colours in it that paints the picture right away?" Shikamaru laughed.

"What an imagination." We turned another corner. His voice sounded amused. That was better. "No, it doesn't have that, but that's really clever."

As we walked on, I realized that we weren't going to the center, that we had actually passed it up a while ago. We would have had to turn around and turn down a few corners to get the center.

"_Market_?" I asked, stressing the word just like Shikamaru had.

"Finally caught on, huh." said he as we approached a black wrought iron gate.

"What are doing here?" Shikamaru didn't respond right away. He seemed to be checking his surroundings. Like he didn't know where he was.

A cold breeze shook the slowly dying trees gently. The trees were losing leaves, some already bare. The few birds still here had long gone, not wanting to be caught up in the soon-to-come snow. The squirrels had gathered their nuts and such and were already secure in their tree-homes. The cold was coming. _Winter_ was coming.

Shikamaru finally gave me my answer. Another cold breeze blew, a little stronger than the last, blowing some leaves off the trees and into my hair.

"We are going _**to the outside**_." My eyes widened as Shikamaru walked over to the gate and carefully slipped through the bars.

* * *

"It feels so different over here." I stretched as we walked down the street. I had gone through the bars of the gate just like Shikamaru had. "It's like the air is fresher on this side and the sky is brighter, even though it's grey today."

"Yeah." Shikamaru agreed. He stretched also, taking a deep breath of the seemingly fresher air. I noticed that he didn't have on his armband.

"Hey, where'd your armband go?" I pointed at his wrist. He quickly shushed me.

"Don't talk about the armband openly like that. Especially when _outside_, okay?" I nodded. "Hmm, speaking of those, why don't you have one?"

"I never got one. Where'd you get yours from?"

"The Jackboots gave everybody one before herding us in there." Shikamaru rubbed at his wrist. The armband had left indentions in his skin.

_Herding._

There was that word again. That was the same word Benedykt used. Did they all feel like trapped animals in the enclosure?

As we walked on, I noticed that the people that didn't get put in the enclosure seemed to somewhat continue on with their lives the best they can in the current state of the city. There were many new looking faces walking up and down the side walks. Women and family and friends of the Jackboots. This bothered me. How could they do that? Just go on like nothing's going on. And how could these unknown people just come here and start using our stores and eating our food and driving our cars? I wanted to push them all out of the city, out of the country. I wanted to scream at them and make them pack up their belongings and go back where they came from. I wanted to _**herd**__ them_ into the enclosure to show them how life was going for us. They wouldn't like it at all. They wouldn't like having their freedom restricted to such a small space. They wouldn't like having to wonder where the food is coming from or to have the amount of food they eat be limited to something smaller than the size of your fist. They wouldn't like feeling hungry all the time. The burning, squeezing, tiring feeling of hunger. I could feel my face growing hot and red. I would have suddenly screamed I was so frustrated if it weren't for that particular voice coming into earshot of me. I've only heard it once, but once was I all needed. I froze in mid-step. I want to turn the other way and run. I was hoping that it was just my mind playing evil tricks on me. But all my hopes were shot down with a gun and burned up with a black fire when that voice welcomed me:

"Sasuke's _infatuation_. Welcome back."

* * *


	14. The So Called Market

**Title:** Porcelain  
**Author:** Your Existence  
**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Date:** 28/3/09 (Mar. 28, 2009)  
**Chapter:** Thirteen  
**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…  
**Author's Note:** o.o Almost three years since I wrote this chapter… I'm so sorry D:

Porcelain is finally back. I plan to go back to my schedule of updating the story every month just like before. If you have stay with me this whole time, I thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter and all the future chapters to come.**  
**

Please enjoy chapter thirteen of _Porcelain_.

* * *

**The **_**So Called**_** Market**

To me, the air felt tense and an unknown pressure started to push out in all directions in my head as Shikamaru and I walked through the large house. The man from that night was leading us past the eating area into a well lit hall. The hall walls had paintings of people and landscapes. The windows were evenly spaced and large. Despite the sunlight from the windows, the hall was steadily getting darker as we went on. Soon be came to the end of the hallway, where a large, dark-wooded door stood.

He knocked on the door once.

It was silent, then a voice shouted angrily from the other side. The man smirked and said something that sounded snide. The voice shouted a livid reply back.

"Ist er krank?" Shikamaru asked the man. The man nodded. "Er klingt furchtbar…"

I understood some of what they were saying. The person on the other side of the door is sick and something about something sounding awful. The man said something to the voice. The voice responded a minute later, a lot quieter than before. Then the man asked a question. The door suddenly opened. Somebody came out.

"Was? Gäste?" A pale face said as it looked around. It's dark, tired black eyes finally came to me. My heart jumped. The eyes narrowed, "Adrian!"

The man, Adrian, or _Itachi_ as he will be called from now on, patted Sasuke on the shoulder. Sasuke slapped the hand away from him.

"Keep your infatuation company while I get our other guest the things he needs." Itachi said in Polish. Sasuke's fist curled up tightly. His eyes darted to Shikamaru. Shikamaru just stared back with that bored expression on his face. Sasuke had a look of disdain and was probably cursing under his breath as he went back into the dark room. Itachi started back down the hall. I looked to Shikamaru, who only gave me a reassuring look, then was gone down the hall, too.

Damn it.

I was all alone and it was horribly quiet. I eyed the door. It was still open, only slightly. I started to contemplate whether I should go in or not.

Sasuke didn't look so happy to see me here. I paced back and forth for a while until curiosity got the best of me and I poked my head through the crack in the door. It was dark, but a faint light coming from the farthest part of the room helped me see a little. I worked my body through the door and shut it as quietly as I could. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I noticed boxes and extra chairs and old toys and such cluttered the seemingly small room. I wondered what Sasuke could possibly be doing in a room like this as a carefully made my way towards the light.

"Sasuke?" I whispered as I approached another door. This door was a little smaller than the first door and was also open. The light, brighter than I thought it was, spilled out from it. "Saaaasuukee?" I heard an irritated sigh from within. A book, I believe, was slammed shut. So, Sasuke was reading back here?

The light blinded me as the door was opened completely. Squinting didn't help at all. I still couldn't see anything.

"Dobe." was all he said before I heard him walk away. I couldn't hear his footsteps, but the old wood flooring creaked, giving him away. I carefully followed in the direction of the creaking and stopped only when the creaking stopped.

"The light. It's dimmer right here than by the door, right?" I stammered. I didn't want to open my eyes if the light was still going to be that bright.

A growl. "Just open your eyes, moron." And I did what I was told. I was afraid that the light was still going to be there in my face and that I was going to go blind, but my fears were to be seen as nonsensical when I saw that the room was moderately lit. I felt my nerves unwind from it's tight bundle and my chest open up more. I didn't realize I was breathing so hard. As my breathing slowed, I looked about the room.

It was fairly big. Different colored carpets covered the creaky wooden floor. They all seemed to match and go along with each other nicely. Paintings and drawings that were done on large pieces of paper littered the walls. In the back of the room, a wooden thing with a big white thing on it was set up. Paints and colors and brushes were on the side of it on a dark dirty old stool. And in the middle of the room, Sasuke was lying on his back on the floor with a thick book, just as I had guessed.

"You paint back here?" I asked, my voice in a half whisper. "And read?" I looked at Sasuke intently, waiting for his reply. But he didn't reply. He didn't even look in my direction. It's like he didn't even hear me.

What a bastard.

I started to walk around, wanting to go look at the paintings, but when I heard the floor whine under my weight, I stopped in my tracks. I looked back at him. He was still in the same position, engrossed in his book. I didn't want to bother him any more than I had to. Taking a deep breath, I quickly scuttled across the room, finally stopping when I reached the farthest wall where the weird wooden and white thing was. I looked back at Sasuke and smiled to myself in relief. Same as when I last looked at him. It felt like I accomplished something of great importance.

"Don't run in the house, dobe, because if you fall and hurt yourself I will not help you."

I didn't feel so accomplished anymore, but when a certain painting caught my attention out the corner of my eye, I quickly pushed that feeling aside.

The painting wasn't anything awe-inducing, but I found myself pulled into it. It was just something about it. I found the colour choices of the piece interesting. Deep, sad blue and bright, lively orange swirls danced around each other, seeming to compliment each other, both in colour and placement. When an orange swirl seemed to be reckless, a blue swirl would come and smooth things out. A gentle blue curve against a sharp orange angle.

Then I noticed something in the painting. There seemed to be two vaguely drawn people within the blue and orange swirls. Their facial features weren't really pronounced, but I could tell that they were sad. I then wondered what the meaning behind this painting was. Who did the two people and the colours represent, if anyone at all?

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice that someone was standing next to me, so when that someone tapped my shoulder, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Naruto? Didn't you hear me calling you?" It was Shikamaru. "I have everything we need, so let's get going."

"Oh, yeah, right…" I looked back at the painting one last time before following after Shikamaru. Itachi was at the door, waiting for us. A low rumble sounded as Shikamaru went through the door.

I laughed, "You sound awfully hungry, Shika." Shikamaru poked his head back through.

"You should be hungry, too." And my stomach protested, just like Shikamaru's had done.

"Oh…" I hadn't really noticed that dreaded empty feeling before. My mind had been too preoccupied to think about food. I rubbed my belly and said, "I guess we'll have to get something to eat when we get back."

"You should eat something here." Itachi spoke up. "It'll be more filling than what you probably have back there." Itachi walked over to me then, lifting my arm and rolling up my sleeve to the shoulder. He had this bored-like expression on his face as he spoke, "Both of you are looking thinner than what is healthy."

Sasuke looked up from his book then, eyeing me. He didn't look concerned or interested. I wasn't sure what Sasuke felt or was thinking. He didn't give any hints; not in body language, or in facial expressions.

"Sasuke," Itachi started as he let go of my arm. I rolled the sleeve back down. "Come down with us. You need something to eat, also. I know you haven't eaten all day."

A frown and sigh.

We were all sitting at the large dining room table, waiting for the food to be done. The smells of cooking meat traveled out of the kitchen and into the dining room, making my stomach whine. I felt my face getting hot and red from embarrassment when it practically screamed. I swear it said, 'Fooooooooood! Gimme foooooooooooood!' Sasuke looked at me, clearly annoyed, from the corner of his eye. I rested my head on the edge of the table.

"I never knew how hungry I really was…" I moaned. Then I shot up and looked to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru! What about the others? We can't eat good food like this. The others are eating practically trash!"

"Oh, yeah. You're right." He scratched the back of his head. "I was so intent on eating that I really just forgot about them…" He sighed then. "How troublesome…"

"You're a bad person, Shikamaru." I joked. "Thinking of only yourself in times like this." I laughed only for a moment.

"Itachi…" Shikamaru started as he stood up. But Itachi cut him off before Shikamaru could go on.

"Don't be sorry. And I've already got you covered, so sit back down."

"It smells soooo good!" I exclaimed as the cooks packed containers of food into a backpack I had on my back.

"Thank you, Itachi. You've helped me out once again. Haha." Shikamaru rubbed the of back of his head and adjusted his backpack on his shoulder. Itachi just waved his hand at him impassively.

The cooks gave me a chocolate and patted me on my head as we left for the front door. After a few steps, I noticed that I was falling backwards a little. I stopped walking, but it didn't help. I couldn't carry the backpack properly and I was starting to fall over. A hand caught the back of my head, balancing me.

"Give it here, dobe." Sasuke said to me as he took the backpack off my back. I looked up at Sasuke and met his dark eyes for a brief second before he turned away and started after Shikamaru. There was something there in his eyes. Some kind of emotion. It made his face look softer when that something was in his eyes. Usually his face was sharp and had a scowl of some sort on it…

It was quiet on the way back. Sasuke didn't say anything. Shikamaru didn't say anything. And I didn't say anything just because they weren't saying anything. It kind of bothered me. I liked talking.

So instead, since I didn't have to carry anything, I walked ahead of Sasuke and Shikamaru, humming a soundtrack of melodies and made up tunes as I thought of them. I skipped and ran and did cartwheels up and down the empty streets. I even rolled down a slight hill in the middle of the street over the trolley tracks without harm.

I would have never been able to do this before the Jackboots came.

We finally came to the wrought iron gate we came through earlier. I immediately slipped through the bars. Sasuke's expression was genuinely sad. It tugged at my chest where my internal wound, the void resided. Shikamaru took off his bag and worked himself through the bars as well, then had Sasuke hand the bags over the top of the gate one at a time. They couldn't fit through the bars.

"Wie ist es da drin?" Sasuke asked, his voice dismal as well.

"Es ist nicht die beste ..." Shikamaru replied, shrugging slightly. I wished I knew what they were saying. It didn't seem to be a very happy conversation.

Sasuke kicked at the ground. "Ist es möglich für mich herein?" Sasuke looked past Shikamaru into the enclosure. I followed Sasuke's line of sight. He was staring at the run-down apartment building behind us. Our building looked a lot better than that building.

Shikamaru shrugged again. "Vielleicht an einem anderen Tag, aber nicht jetzt."

"Okay." And like that, he was gone. I watched Sasuke until I couldn't see him anymore.

"Why is he sad?" I asked Shikamaru finally. Shikamaru came up next to me, staring in the direction Sasuke went. It was quiet between the two of us. Not even the wind made a sound as it blew gently against our faces.

"I'm not too sure, Naruto." he sighed and walked over to the bags and picked up the bag Sasuke had been carrying. "Come on. We need to get these to the others before they get too cold." I nodded and picked up the other bag and started towards our building.

Some how, the food Itachi packed was still as hot as it had been when we left. Everyone was over joyous about finally being able to eat something hot after so long.

We didn't tell them where we got the how stew. No one besides Shino knew about Itachi and Sasuke and the many times they have helped us. I didn't know why we didn't tell the boys about them, but it seemed important that we kept quiet about it.

Shikamaru and Gaara tended to Rock Lee's wound with the ointment and bandages Itachi provided before distributing the stew to everybody. The stew had been very savory and warmed everyone up from the inside out.


	15. Snow Flakes and the Girls

**Title:** Porcelain  
**Author:** Your Existence  
**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Date:** 30/1/11 (Jan. 30, 2011)  
**Chapter:** Fourteen  
**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…  
**Author's Note:** I decided to update this chapter early because I'm moving to Italy in two weeks and I didn't want to keep you all waiting months and months. You all have already waited so long on this story and it would be horrible of me to do that to all of you.

Please enjoy this chapter of _Porcelain_!

* * *

**Snow Flakes and the Girls**

The first snow of the year fell yesterday.

We all had been inside at the time, minding our own business. Some of us were playing games, others were talking to one another. I had been playing a counting game with Rock Lee and Jan with a deck of make-shift cards. Gaara, who had been by the window, tapped the glass of the window and muttered only one word.

"Snow."

Everyone had immediately stopped everything they were doing and rushed to the front windows. The cards to our game scattered everywhere as I jumped to see the snow.

Small, white specks fell from gloomy, grey clouds, slowly making their descend down to Earth. The specks landed on the grass, sticking to the blades like they had honey on them. Other specks landed on the pavement, instantly melting. It had given me a little hope that maybe the snow wouldn't stick, that the skies would hold off sending down snow for just a bit longer. We all had been waiting for this to happen. We just didn't know when it would finally come.

My small hopes were smashed when I looked out the window this morning.

The ground was completely covered with snow. I couldn't tell where the grass ended and where the pavement began. I opened the door for a brief moment to stick my finger into the snow. It came up to the second joint in my pointer finger. Closing the door, I stuck my arms into my shirt and put my hands under my armpits. My body shook slightly, trying to warm back up from the minor winds that blew in when I had opened the door. The house suddenly felt colder than usual. The colours of the wall seemed more dull. I sighed.

Winter had officially begun.

* * *

"I can't believe it's snowing already." Shikamaru sighed. He was sitting on the window sill in the room he shared with Chouji and Gaara. "So troublesome…" I only nodded. I was arranging the playing cards by ascending numeral order on the floor under the window.

"Now that I think about it," I said, reaching over to my right for a card gone astray. "I wish that we had some of that hot stew right now. The house is getting colder."

"Yeah," Shikamaru yawned loudly. "That sounds nice right about now…"

Everyone had noticed the temperature change in the house. The house didn't have power or running water, so the heating system didn't work at all. Before, the temperature was steadily dropping, so we had a change to adjust to the change, but the drop in temperature was so drastic that everyone opted to stay wrapped up in their blankets and sheets in their respective rooms. Only Shikamaru and I were the only ones up out of our blankets, though the more I thought about them, the more I wanted to go and wrap up in them.

"Did your cellar get cold in the Winter, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked as I stood up to stretch. I shivered as I came to the window. How was Shikamaru sitting there? It was horribly cold in and near the window.

"Not at all," I replied. "You'd think it would be freezing, being under the ground and all, but it stayed mighty cozy in there. I would light a small fire in the far corner when it came to be really cold to warm the cellar up again." I leaned on the window sill just to shy away from it. I thought about how I used to sleep for days on end in my warm, overly orange cellar. I missed it terribly.

"Do you think we will ever be able to get inside my cellar again?" I asked the brunet, rubbing my hands against my arms, trying to get warm.

Shikamaru shrugged and yawned yet again. "I'm not sure. Possibly." He slid down from the sill and stretched, popping joints and bones and working out the cricks in his back as he leaned backward, then forward. "I'm feel old," the boy sighed, dragged himself to his sleeping space, where Chouji had been sleeping all day. He laid down next the chubby boy, resting his head on Chouji's side.

I left the room after picking up the counting cards and went back to the room I shared with Dominik, one of the two lesser known boys still here. On a regular day, he slept the day away, only waking up to do a chore, then going right back to sleep afterwards, so it was a surprise when I walked into the room and saw him wide awake, sitting up on his padding.

He looked up at me only for a moment before looking away at something else, his hands, the strings at the end of his frayed blanket. He looked tired, which I thought should be impossible because the guy was sleeping ninety-nine percent of the time. The more I looked at him, the more tired he seemed to be. He looked at me again when I finally plopped down on my own padding of a bed and brought the multiple sheets and blankets I had up to my hips. I looked up to see Dominik looking at me. It make me feel uncomfortable.

"...What are we doing today...?" He had spoken so low that I barely heard him. I shrugged.

"Nothing, I guess." I shrugged again. "It's too cold."

Dominik nodded sluggishly, then shook his head, making his mouse brown hair fall in his face a little. He was clearly confused. "The snow finally came?"

I just stared at the boy.

"It's been on the ground for nearly two days already." I told him. Dominik shrugged this time and looked down at his blankets.

"I see..." he says, finally laying back down. He was out like a light before I could even begin to think about my next thought.

* * *

The snow really had us all bummed out. We stayed in our rooms for another two days before Kiba finally got tired of laying around and made us all get up. We were all hungry, but had been too cold to get up and get any food from out of the closet-like space in the main part of the house. We were careful to not take too much from out of the Food Vault now that the snow had come. Kiba had taken an arm of sausage from out of the Vault and had everyone sit in a huddled circle in the living room. He opened the package and took a bite out of it and passed it to his left. We all took turns taking bites from out of the sausage, only getting to take a bite of it six times each before it was wrapped up again and put back in the Vault.

"What are we doing out here, Kiba?" Rock Lee asked, shivering slightly. Both Shikamaru and Dominik yawned loudly at the same time. "There's nothing for us to do now."

"There's always something for us to do!" Kiba yelled at all of us. "How about thicker clothing, hm? Don't you think that is important? We're not squirrels, nor are we bears. We don't hibernate!" Kiba's face was slightly red. He was breathing was hard. "I refuse to sit around on my ass all Winter."

The room was silent. We all huddled closer to one another to stay warm. Kiba rolled our eyes at us when we didn't respond. He stomped right up to me and pulled me to my feet. I know I must have had a questioning look on my face (or at least a stupid looking one), because Kiba rolled his eyes yet again and just dragged me by the arm to the front door.

"Put on your shoes," he barked at me.

I looked down at my shoes, then back up at him. "Kiba, I don't understand what…"

"Come on! Just do it!"

I did what I was told and pulled on my shoes and tied them tighter than usual. I didn't want snow to get into them. Kiba opened the door and a wave of cold air rushed in, instantly making goose bumps appear all over my skin. My thin pants and light jacket wasn't going to protect me from the outside at all.

Kiba grabbed me by my collar and dragged me outside, slamming the door behind him. He continued to drag me until we were a few yards away from the house, then he let go of me.

"Kiba," I huffed. "Why are we going outside? Where are we going?" I didn't understand Kiba at all. He didn't answer me, just shaking his head back and forth.

Kiba was never really fond of me. He talked to me as little as possible and tended to stay away from me as much as possible. He always had this annoyed look gracing his features when he came to be too close and always spoke to me in short, sharp sentences that were sometimes really vague. So it had really caught me off guard when he had chosen me to accompany him to wherever he was going. Usually, he was close to Shino and the two went nearly everywhere together. Now that I was thinking about it, the question of why he chose me over Shino started to bug me. I waited until we turned a corner (which led down to the center of the enclosure) to asking my burning question.

"Kiba," I called, trying to get his attention. He still didn't answer me, so I ran up ahead of him and stopped abruptly, making him run straight into me.

"For the love of God, what, Naruto?" He was glaring at me, daring me to bother him with something insignificant.

"I know you don't like me all that much, so…" I rubbed the back of my neck, looking down. "I was wondering why you had me come with you instead of Shino, 'cause, you know, you're always with Shino…"

Kiba side-stepped me and continued to walk. I quickly caught up to him, but didn't stop in front of him again. "Shino is not as quick on his feet as you are. He's really smart and he's really fast, but you're smaller and even quicker, and I need that to have this outing be successful."

It took a moment before Kiba's words made sense in my head.

So… He actually needed _my_ help?

"Naruto," Kiba breathed as we came to the 'shopping district' of the enclosure. He turned to me, a mischievous smile defining his face. "Time to do some _clothes shopping_." I couldn't stop the same mischievous smile from spreading across my face.

Suddenly, I felt an explosion of warmth coursed through me as I started running down the street. Amazingly, many people were outside looking at the piss-poor items the make-shift vendors had on sale despite the cold. I was bouncing off of them like a ball, running through the small, narrow spaces between the legs and bodies of people I knew only someone as small as me could fit through. I saw an open door and ran inside the building, knowing exactly what I wanted to get.

I started testing the doors, each of them locked on the first floor. I ran up to the second floor and did the same, all of them being locked. I had started to loose energy (hope, excitement, something like it) when I got I got to the third floor and tested all it's door. Only the last one was unlocked and my energy rocketed again. I silently opened the door and quickly went in, leaving the door cracked. Immediately, I saw a woman and a small girl laying on a bare mattress. They were facing away from me, and I quietly went over to a heap of dark fabrics. On the very top of the pile laid a coat, which I pulled on. It fit me perfectly and it was very thick and warm. I continued to rummage through the pile, careful not to make a sound. I found two other coats that were larger than the one I wore and snuck back out the flat, gently closing the door. I ran back outside to see Kiba running down the street towards where we came in from with more than an armful of clothing. A particular item he wore on his head caught my immediate attention. He was wearing a bright orange hat that had thin, blue snowflakes etched in. I started towards the boy, trying not to drop the coats. It was hard for me to run to with clothing in my arms. Kiba made it seem so effortless. It was also harder to run though people with my arms so full, but I managed, and soon caught up with Kiba at the very end of the street. He told me to put the things I found in the crack in the end building, then go back and find more items.

By time we felt we were done, we ended up overfilling the crack and had to make several trips between the crack and the house, not noticing that two pairs of eyes had been watching the two of us the entire time.

* * *

"Wow…" was all that the boys could say.

There were more than enough clothing for all of us to wear an extra layer of clothing each plus a thick coat, including Bernard and Benedykt, had they still been living with us.

I liked my new Winter clothes. I took the orange hat from Kiba as soon as we had arrived back at the house from our last trip. At first, he want fighting me for the hat, but then totally forgot about it when Shino held up to him a black at that had tan puppies on them. They sort of looked like Akamaru, which sold him on the hat. So along with my new orange hat, I had the black and grey plaid coat I took from the apartment and a few layers of clothing.

At first, I had felt bad for taking items from other people. So between a trip to the crack, I had went back to the apartment with the items I had stolen. But when I opened the door, the mother and girl had gone. The mattress had gone, too. Only the clothing I didn't take remained. Their were few other light jackets in the pile that I decided not to take. Maybe the mother and girl were going to come back, though something in the back of my mind told me that they weren't coming back. Ever.

We sorted through the clothes, taking the time to bicker over some of the items before settling with whatever else was left. Soon, the house settled down again, everybody more than warm and content. There was idle talk about nonsense and everything seemed to be good.

Then there was a knock on the door. A firm knock.

My heart skipped a beat and I felt the blood drain from my face. I know we all were hoping that it was just all of our imagination, but if we all heard it, then it was very unlikely, unfortunately. But we could hope.

The knock sounded again and we all scrambled to our rooms in a mild roar. I, along with Shino and Shikamaru, peeked out around from the corner to the front door. At the window on either side of the door, we could see small bodies peering through. One of them had pinkish-blonde hair.

"They're… girls?" I asked, beyond bewildered. "They're just girls?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at me. "With a knock like that? Seriously now…"

The girl with the pinkish hair moved away from the window and moved in front of the door. That powerful knock sounded throughout the house, giving me, and I know everyone else, the shivers (and possibly a mild heart attack). I looked over at Shikamaru, who just shrugged his shoulders, just as confused as I was.

After a moment, Shino was shoved by Kiba into the hallway. He was trying to get him to answer the door. Shino glared at Kiba, then, fixing his sun glasses to the bridge of his nose, we slowly made his way to the door. I heard the slight breath he took before opening the door.

I burst at the seams laughing.

The pink-headed girl was suddenly apologizing over and over to Shino, who was cradling his forehead, trying to back away from the girl. The other girl, who had her dark brown hair set in two buns on the sides of her head, was also apologizing to Shino as well, even though she hadn't done anything at all.

I inched my way towards the living room, peering around the corner again. Shikamaru yawned loudly behind me and walked right into the living room, with some of the others following behind.

"Oh wow." Chouji said. "They are just girls."

The pink one looked up at Chouji. "And what's that supposed to mean?" She shook her fist at him and Chouji took several steps back.

We all looked at the two girls. We didn't know what to do and say to them. Why were they here?

When the silence continued to go uninterrupted, Gaara's distinct, deep voice spoke up and asked, "What do you want?"

Both the dark-haired girl and the pinkish-blonde girl stared at us straight on. The pinkish-blonde had vivid green eyes that burned with some kind of determination. Her face was contorted into a serious face that could rival with Rock Lee's. She took an audible breath and spoke.

"We've seen what you have done," she started. That fire in her eyes seemed to burn even stronger as she continued. The brunette girl nodded, and said along with her blonde friend: "And we want to join you!"

* * *

**A/N:** Ooo. Girls? Wanting to join a group full of boys? What's going to happen? I can't wait to see either! xD


	16. Seriously They're Girls!

**Title:** Porcelain  
**Author:** Your Existence  
**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Date:** 6/2/11 (Feb. 6, 2011)  
**Chapter:** Fourteen  
**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…  
**Author's Note:** Really short, I know. But I felt that it didn't tack on well at the end of the last chapter, and having another part added to this was really awkward, too, so… A filler-ish chapter thingy? But it's not really filler, because it does move the story along… (shrug) I don't know…

But, anywhoozle, enjoy this chapter (chaplit, more like it) of _Porcelain_!

* * *

**Seriously. They're Girls!**

It's been two weeks.

Two. Entire. Weeks.

They're not bad kids. Not at all. The brunette girl, Tenten, is so sweet and nice with a fierce kick to her, making her interesting. Her and Rock Lee have really hit it off together (much to the ever quiet, denying chagrin of Gaara. Hahaha!). It seems that they both share interests in foreign movies and fighting. And the pinkish-blonde girl, Sakura, is pretty nice, too, once you get over her toughness and slight temper. It seems that she is younger than Tenten, but a natural leader and knows how to stand her own ground, and… I kind of like that about her.

But…

They're girls.

And I've never been around girls for this long. Ever. Nor have I ever had to share a living space with girls (Dominik and I have to share our room with them now. They get Benedykt's and Bernard old paddings, sheets and blankets).

It's… _**really**_ awkward.

On the day they came knocking on the door, all the boys had gathered around in the living room to debate whether it would be a good idea to let _girls_ join our household. This is pretty much how it went:

First, we bickered to the point where we couldn't hear each other speak and Rock Lee felt it was necessary to yell the words 'youthfulness', 'rainbows', and 'rice' over and over while the verbal chaos ensued. After we quieted down, Gaara had went outside to get a thick stick from outside and used it to point to one of us and whack them in the knees if they were to speak out of turn. So, naturally, no one spoke out of turn for the rest of the 'meeting' (had to love Gaara and his violent tendencies). The girls' reasoning for wanting to join us was simple. They felt that we, the boys, could benefit from having them in the group. Sakura knew other children and adults inside the enclosure who could provide food and people on the outside who could sneak food and supplies into the enclosure. Tenten knew how to pick various locks and was nimble and fast, which was always appreciate and welcome in our group. And, because they were girls, they could get away with a lot more and sweet-talk people out of their possessions easier than any of us could. They would benefit from us by having somewhere to sleep and feel safe, which had been their major problem before the found us. Having them around isn't too bad.

But still… They're girls…


	17. Summer Skies

**Title:** Porcelain  
**Author:** Your Existence  
**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Date:** 7/3/11 (Feb. 7, 2011)  
**Chapter:** Sixteen  
**Pairings:** SasuNaru (main)  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em…  
**Author's Note:** This chapter kind of makes me sad. And then, what makes me even more so is that is kind of stuff actually happened to real people. Why must I write such sad stuff?

Nonetheless, please enjoy chapter sixteen of _Porcelain_!

* * *

**Summer Skies**

"Think fast!"

"Huh?" I turned around see what was going on just to get a horribly cold, hard mass slammed into my face. My nose and cheek stung.

"Woo-hoo! I got you good!" Tenten snickered playfully and gathered up another snowball into her pale hands. I wiped the snow from off my face, suddenly feeling competitive. I scooped up some snow off the lawn and pressed it into a firm, hard ball. "Ooo, NaruNaru. I think you can get me?" Tenten teased.

"Oh, you best believe it's on now!" I yelled as I started after her, throwing my snowball square in her back as she turned to run. She doubled-over in laughter.

We had been playing in the snow all afternoon, having had slept the morning away peacefully. Sakura had very good aim with her snowballs. And she knew how to make them sting like a bitch. I swear, I had bruises all over my arms and back from getting hit with her deadly snowballs. Shikamaru had been in the snowball fight earlier for ten seconds before he bailed on us and slouched over to his usual place: the bench on the side of the house. He had plopped himself down with his arms over his eyes and fell asleep just like that. It amazed me how much Dominik and Shikamaru continued to sleep when there was so much to do. Kiba really did bring us out of our rut.

Snowball fights were almost an everyday thing for us now. Sometimes, when we couldn't sleep, we'd go outside and have practically a snowball war in the icy streets, our only light being the dim, flickering street lamps. Every now and then, a child or two would come join us mid-fight; sometimes, even an adult would come and play with us. The Jackboots would sometimes throw snowballs at one of us as they pass by. Other times, they would sit back and watch us, laughing when one of us would slug another in the face or if we slid on an unknown patch of ice and fell. But no matter what they did concerning our snowball fights, they never got directly involved in them. I often wondered if it was against whatever rules they followed that prevented them from have snowball fights. At least one of all the Jackboots in the area had to have wanted to play in the snow.

Having shared these thoughts one day with Rock Lee on a grey afternoon, he said to me, "I'm not sure if they would want to have snowball fights. I'm sure they had them when they were younger," pausing to sip some melted snow, he continued. "Maybe we should go up to a one and ask if he would like to have a snowball fight."

I just looked at him incredulously. I was hoping he was just being silly, however, his face told me that he was very serious about this proposal.

"Maybe they are just waiting for someone to ask."

"Lee, you're impossible," I said to him, shaking my head. "The Jackboots aren't waiting for some child to ask them to a snowball fight. That's just stupid."

"It's possible…"

"No, it's not possible. It's ridiculous." I chuckled and also took a sip of some melted snow. Rock Lee shrugged and continued with his squats, having stopped when I had came to inquire to him my silly thoughts.

* * *

"Do you dream of the seasons, Shikamaru?" I asked as we sat in front of the house. He looked at me for a few seconds, then turned his always bored-looking gaze back to the sky.

"No."

It was very early in the morning. The sun wasn't even up yet. The moon was nowhere to be seen, not that we were able to see it anyway, with all the clouds blocking the sky and stars from view. Shikamaru was smoking a cigarette, something he did only in the early mornings. As he took a drag, the end of it lit up brightly, then dimmed as he blew out the silvery smoke in a steady stream.

"Have you ever dreamt of the seasons before?"

He was making smoke rings this time. The last one he blew out he blew towards me, with the ring going around my face. The smoke smelled of tobacco and sweet wine.

"Never."

He looked over at me. I looked back at him. I didn't know what to say or if he was expecting me to say something else. He'd never dreamed of the seasons before. I had never dreamed of the seasons either, though sometimes, they would resemble the seasons, colour-wise anyway.

"You're eyes are really bright, Naruto."

That caught me off my guard. I could feel my face heating up already. "That's rather random of you to say…"

"They're so blue. Probably bluer than the summer skies." He looked away from me then, to look back up to the sky and sighed. "I wonder when the sky will be blue again…" I looked up at the sky then as well, watching the dark clouds roll by at their leisurely pace. When would the sky be blue again?

It had only been maybe half an hour since my conversation with Shikamaru. Everything happened so fast. Too fast. One moment, Shikamaru and I were looking up at the sky, enjoying what the moment had to offer. The next moment, I'm being thrown into the snow face first with a man standing over me yelling at me in angry German. I tried getting up to my feet just to be pushed down to the ground again. I could feel tears of frustration and fear come to my eyes. I didn't know what was happening or what for. A large hand wrapped around the back of my neck and hoisted me into the air and started walking, taking me away from the house. I yelled and kicked, but it did nothing but make the hand squeeze around my neck tighter. Lights suddenly turned on in front of me and I had to shut my eyes. They were much too bright. As the man brought me closer to the lights, my ears picked up on the rustling and murmuring of other people. They sounded just as confused and frightened as I felt. Among the noise, I was trying to pick up on Shikamaru's voice, but I did so in vain.

I was dropped on the ground. People were all around me, pushing and talking much too loud. I wanted to open my eyes so I could see where I was, but the lights were in my face. I was abruptly pulled up to standing and was held in my spot among the people by hands on either side of me. I tried prying them off me, but after a moment of that, I was slapped by the very hands keeping me there, and I stopped struggling against the hands. The tears I tried to keep back started to fall. Why was this happening? Would I ever see the others again? Was I going to die?

The angry German yelling kept going; the bright lights never turned off; the people around me never stopped their murmurs, but they did stop moving. Maybe they had hands keeping them to their spots as well. My pair of hands never let go of me, never loosened its tight grip on my sides. At first, it had hurt where the hands were grabbing me, but after a while, it went slightly numb. I don't know how long the yelling went on for. I don't know how long we all were made to stand there in the cold. Even when I had to go to the bathroom, I wasn't allowed to leave. I ended up wetting myself.

I never opened my eyes to see what was going on. Even when the lights dimmed, I didn't open them. Somewhere inside myself, I believed that if kept my eyes closed, then whatever that was happening wouldn't be real. On the back of my eyelids, the sky was bluer than my eyes; not a cloud was to be seen. The trees were greener than green and all fruits and vegetables were rich with flavour and satisfying. Everyone was happy and smiling and waving to me as I walked by. They greeted me a good day and complimented me on how my eyes were just like the sky, blue and full of hope of a great summer.

The hands did finally let me go, the yelling stopped, the shuffling of the people walking away grew faint and finally disappeared and I opened my eyes to find that the sky was more grey than it had been yesterday. The sun had finally come up and had been up for sometime. The snow around my feet had been stained yellow. Shikamaru was no where to be seen. My legs were numb, and I fell into the snow when I had tried to walk, face first, just like before. My sides were sore from where the hands had been. I found my voice to be weak and hoarse but I forced a scream to come forth.

I screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And even when the others finally came for me and helped me back to the house, I screamed.

Maybe I thought that if I screamed enough, and wore my voice and throat down and out, that the grey winter skies would be scared and run away, to bring to us the blue summer skies we so desperately need.

* * *

"Those are some nasty bruises, man," Kiba said to me as we all stared at my sides in the cracked mirror Chouji and Rock Lee brought out from one of the closets. The bruises were in the shape of the slender hands and were a deep purple in colour. Shikamaru, who had come back some time after the boys had brought me back to the house, had bruises on his arms and a deep gash on his forehead. Only Shikamaru and I had to go through that experience. The rest of them had hid in the attic when the Jackboots stormed into the house. I still hadn't had an understanding on what had passed yesterday morning.

"We were out past 'curfew'," Shikamaru said when Shino asked what had happened. "Or, at least, that's what the Jackboot told me when I _asked_ him what the hell was going on."

"But," Rock Lee interjected. "We have been outside at odd times of the morning and this had never happened before."

"And since when was there ever a _curfew_ here?" Kiba asked, skeptical of the Jackboot's response to the situation.

"I'm not sure," Shikamaru replied. "Naruto and I were forced to stand in the snow and cold for nearly seven hours."

"Just standing there?" Chouji questioned, scooting himself closer to the boy. Shikamaru answered him with a nod. The girls had been quiet the entire time, both of them in tears over what had passed.

"Well," Shino started, standing up and facing us all. "we now know to not be outside when the sun goes down. I don't want this to happen to any of us again, not if I can help it."

'_As the days go by, as days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, I await the day, the time, when I will finally dream of the seasons, the times of the year where the greatest natural changes of the Earth occur. This snow on the ground will melt back into the ground soon to nourish it, and the green of the grass and the blue of the sky will be here with us again.'_


End file.
